Local Market Monopoly

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Clarence Fisher: Hey, welcome back to Local Market Monopoly. It's Clarence Fisher, your host, and I probably already know the answer to this, but are you looking for ways to improve your personal and professional life? Duh. In today's episode, we're going to explore the life and legacy of Benjamin Franklin. I've been obsessed with him lately and how his habits and his practices can help you and me. Is it you and me, you and I to help I No. To help you and me achieve success. What you're going to discover today is how his Franklin's time management techniques, his commitment to lifelong learning and his focus on personal development, can inspire both you and me to become better versions of yourself. I struggle with that. You and I, mi and me we'll, and we'll work that out too. Okay? So don't go anywhere. Don't miss this episode. We'll be right back.
Okay? Welcome back to the episode. And as promised, today we're going to look into the life of one of America's founding fathers, Mr. Benjamin, $100. Bill Franklin. That wasn't his name. Cause you imagine he's walking hundred dollar Bill, y'all. Benjamin 100 bill Franklin. He was a true polymath, which I had to look up Polymath when he was a master of everything. He made significant contributions to science, literature, politics, and he also invented a bunch of stuff. One of the things that he invented was the flexible catheter. So in order for him to invent the flexible catheter, there had to be an inflexible catheter. So in my researchers, I'm looking at this, I'm like, it took, how long did it take someone to invent that seriously? But anyway, that was much needed. And another thing that jumped out at me is he didn't patent anything.
Alexander Graham Bell right has so many patents. All these people have so many patents. Franklin believed that we should all discover things and just give it to the world. So he didn't patent anything. So that was a pretty shocking to me. But today we're going to focus on a lesser known aspect of Franklin's life. His commitment to self-improvement and personal development. If you know me, that is what has allowed me to get to where I am is a super commitment early on to self-improvement, personal development. And so I kind of geek out on this stuff, and Franklin's one of those guys that I'm like, well, how did he achieve as much as he did with the same 24 hours? I mean, this is something that jumps that I marvel at with a lot of high achievers. Say what you want to say about Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, even some of the people around me that have bigger companies.
I just like, how do you get so much done in the exact same time that I have? Right? Have you ever, surely you've thought about that. Well, Benjamin Franklin is someone that just about everybody is how he got so much done and still had time to play and be at events and all kind of stuff. So that's what we're going to dive into. That's what got me down. Going down this road. Also, I study some of his virtues, which I'll share with you here in a little bit. I've been studying his virtues for a long time, trying to take on some of those virtues myself. And we'll talk about that here in a bit in a bit. And we'll also explore some of those virtues for yourself. So let's get started. One of the key elements of Benjamin Franklin's daily routine and his personal development was his focus on time management.
He was all about time management. He believed time is a valuable resource and wasting it was a form of moral negligence is what he calls it there. Take that everybody who trips on me saying this was a waste of time. How many meetings could actually be emails? We're not going to go down, go down that road, but it's a big pet peeve of mine. If I'm showing up to a meeting and dude, seriously, seriously, this could have been an email. So Franklin coined, whether you know this or not, he coined the term. Time is money, which became popular back then and we still use it today. And one of his time management tools was this very simple to-do list. And when I say simple, I mean simple. He did the exact same things every day. And this is something that jumped out at me too, is how simple success really can be. It is the same thing every day.
Somebody told me that boring is the most pop. When your business gets boring every day, then that's when success happens, when you've mastered things so much that you're not looking for the shiny objects and all this stuff. But Franklin was the same thing. His daily schedule was carefully planned out. He was strict about it. He adhered to it. He woke up early every morning, typically around 5:00 AM and he'd spend time doing his personal hygiene breakfast and then he'd dive into his work for the day. One of the keys that to his time management success was he believed that by prioritizing his task, breaking them down into smaller, more manageable pieces, he could be more productive and achieve his goals more easily. And he did that.
But his time management techniques weren't just about being productive though he also believed in balance. He took breaks to recharge in the middle of the day. He took breaks to do physical activity. A lot of us do that in the morning, man, I super try to do that in the morning, but for whatever reason, I have to get it done in mid morning. So I wake up and go right to work. Actually, I wake up, I have a devotional with a couple of guys that are dear to me, and we do that every single weekday morning. And then after that, I go to work. I'm like, I'm recording this podcast right after the devotional that we have this morning. And then after this I will go work out that seems to work better for me. And then after that, I will jump on client work and stuff like that and work till that till about, I don't know, six o'clock and then I'm going to enjoy the evening with my wife.
But before that I'll do something kind of like what Franklin does, which is reflect on the day, and this is something you may want to do, but I've started writing down three wins that I had for the day, and that has really started to improve my outlook on the next day before the next day happens. Because when you start writing down three wins at the end of the day, then you start looking for wins. Your mind. It's like when you're looking for a red car, you're about to purchase a red car, and all of a sudden you see red cars everywhere. You see that model that you're looking for when you start writing down your wins, all of a sudden you're looking for wins everywhere. You're not looking for the bad things that are happening, you're looking for wins. It's the same thing of waking up and writing down three things you're grateful for.
That's something that, so that's something that I'm thinking about as I'm walking the dog in the morning so that she can do her thing is I'm thinking, man, I'm so grateful for this. I'm so grateful for that. I'm so grateful for this. And so starting the day with three things that you're grateful for and then ending the day with three wins that you had the day that day will get you to looking for wins. But back to Benjamin Franklin, he would prioritize his time using his own time management, kind of his own time management system up at five. He would get ready for the day, jump right into work, take a break, go get something to eat, jump right into work, take a break, do some exercise, jump back into work, spend time. And when he would shut down, he would shut down. I so envy this.
I got a buddy, he's a pastor , Jim Moss, big shout out to Jim Moss. And we were talking, and I don't know if he still does this, but at some period he would go home and at five o'clock or whenever he went home, he would toss the phone into a drawer or something and just be with his kids and just be with his family. And I'm thinking, what? Who does that? Like who just unplugs that? Another buddy of mine, Kevin Burr at one point, not sure if he still does it, but he didn't have a computer at his house.
He left. Everything was at work. And this is so intentional that I get amazed by it. That's something I totally struggle with, especially with what we do. I say especially with what we do, like I'm any more special than any of the other business owners or high achieving marketing executives here. It's like always on. Something could happen and I need to be there. Not really, but that's the lie that I tell myself. But anyway, I'm working on unplugging and that's something that you can do too. All right, back to Benjamin Franklin. I keep going off into this, back to Benjamin Franklin. He was an avid reader. Leaders are readers. That's what I've heard. And he read widely across a bunch of different subjects. Another thing that I'm working on, he read widely across a bunch of different subjects. Not just business, not just leadership, but also the fantasy stuff that I feel like is a waste of time. There. I said it, but I should probably start reading some of that stuff. Some of the fantasy stuff too. It helps with imagination. But he also attended tons of lectures, discussions on a regular basis. He sought out opportunities to expand his knowledge. Learning was his thing. I bet if he took the, I bet took the strengths test that he would probably be a learner. But in addition to that, he also believed in experimentation, not like that.
He would experiment with the things that he learned as far a, and this is what led to his inventing all kinds of stuff that he did not patent. Like I said, he invented numerous devices and tools like the lightning rod and the bifocals, which I have on now, aging myself. Thank you, Mr. Benjamin Franklin. But his example serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of ongoing education, ongoing learning. And of course, I'm speaking to the choir here. We all are always learning. We're always trying to go, we're always grow. We're always trying to develop as individuals so that we can achieve our goals and our aspirations. So have the to-do list. This is, this is the simple truth of how he achieved greatness. This simple, so simple. Dad gum, simple to-do list, wake up, same time in the morning, go to work. No, he watched his body, then he, he'd go to work and then he would take a break, grab something to eat, and then he would go to work. Then he would do something to take his mind off everything. I'm sure he had a nap in there somewhere. Hold on.
Okay, this is Benjamin Franklin's, super duper complicated schedule, sarcasm all over that. 5:00 AM to 8:00 AM three hours there. Rise, wash, dress, powerful goodness. 8:00 AM to 12. You know that five day, that's devotional and all that stuff, right? 8:00 AM that's what I'm saying. It is 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM So four hours there. He would work four hours, 12:00 PM noon to 2:00 PM two hours, read or overlook my accounts and dine. So Ben is like logging in the Schwab, checking his account. He's really not, probably not doing that, but he's checking his accounts. He's reading. He's got two hours of, Hey, I'm going to feed my mind and I'm going to handle all this stuff. I'm sure he had types of investment accounts and stuff like that. Anyway, but back 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM work. So he is got eight hours right there that he's working. And then from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM check this man after my own heart. Put things in their places, put things in their places. And then what do we have here? Let's see. Put things in their places. I just lost my spot.
Keep the camera rolling as I find my spot again. All right, guys, this is live. So 10:00 PM it is not live. 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM sleep. I want to know what the pit put things in the places is what put things in. Okay, here it is. Put things in their places. Supper, music or diversion or conversation. Okay, so here he is, 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM he's going to, no, that's, where's that? Put things in their places. That one's five. Yeah, 5:00 PM It's actually, I'm looking deeper into it. So 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM He has put things in their places. So he can have supper, he can have music. That means he's going to a concert or something, or dive diversion. That means he's jumping on Facebook, maybe some making a TikTok video or he has conversation, he's talking with his wife or he is talking with his buddies.
He's talking with Jefferson and all those guys like, Hey man, how was your day? And also, this is not an or he's, he has here examination of the day, which is he's counting his wins, his three wins for the day. That's awesome, man. After my own heart. And so his evening questions are, what good have I done today? That is the question that he asks himself every single day. What good have I done today? Maybe that's the three wins. Yeah, I would say that's the three wins. And then he would go to sleep. He's at sleep by 10 o'clock, and that's his schedule every single day. You can look that up on Google. By the way, we should put a link. Let's put a link to that in the show notes to Ben Franklin's actual schedule. Okay, finally, another. And thanks for sticking with me as I kind of stumbled with that.
Clap. Clap. Cut that as I stumbled through that. Finally, another key aspect of Ben Franklin's personal development was his focus on personal development. Notice I said that he got what he focused on, his focus on personal development. He believed that striving to become a better person and continuously reflecting on his own behavior. If he did that, he could achieve greater success and greater happiness in his life. And I will attest to this as well. So this is the virtues. These are the virtues that he wrote down. And he would always ask himself if he, what's the word I'm looking for, if he displayed these qualities that day? And so I rotate through them. I use a program called Simpleology, and it actually has a module in there called Ben Franklin Habits. And that's how I came across Ben Franklin's habits was the module in Simpleology that you can click which ones you want to rotate through.
And so I rotate through probably about seven of the habits a week. But the good thing about, not that this is going to be a Simpleology commercial, but the good thing about that program that I like is I've got other habits that I've added to that module. So it's not just Ben Franklin's habits. I've got John Maxwell's 21 Laws of Leadership. I've got other things, other habits that I run into that I want to make sure become part of my life that I don't even know how many I have now that are listed in this module. And then, so I have seven that I rotate through every single week. And basically the module comes up and the habit is there, and I have to judge myself between one and 10, how I did the day before. And then on Mondays I will uncheck the top habit and then I will add a new habit, check a new habit at the bottom.
So I'm constantly rotating over the course, slowly rotating through these seven of the habits that I have on my list, if that makes sense. And I've been doing this for years, and it's all inspired by Ben Franklin's 13 habits, which are, and we'll put a link to this as well, which are temperance. Eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation. I super fail at that every time. Every time it comes up, most times silent. I feel at a lot of these, let's just be honest, which is why I keep going through the habits. It's like, dad gummit, that's a three today. Silence speak not, but what may benefit others or yourself? Avoid trifling conversation. Just trifling. Okay, that's a two order. Let all things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time now letting all things have its places. I'm probably a nine on that. My wife will tell you, I have some OCDness going on. Everything has to have its place. The dog needs to sit right there.
But let each part of your business have its time. How many of us do that? How say, Hey, Wednesday, we do this Thursday. Actually, probably a lot of you do that. Okay? I'm the only dance on that area. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought perform without fail what you resolve. That means the day before, decide what you're going to do the next day and then do it. That means when you're talking to people, and I'm saying that this made me something different to you, but as I'm going through the habits, this is what it means to me is do what you say you will do. You got to be hardcore about that. If you said you'd do it, do it. And this has also, this habit right here has caused me to not promise so much. Used to someone would ask for something, you're like, yeah, I'll take care of that.
Well, when you start saying holding yourself really accountable to doing what you say you're going to do, you start saying you're going to do less. Okay? Frugality, make no expense, but to do good to others or yourself, waste nothing. I got that one. That's, that's kind of a high one. If you know me, you know what? I've got that one down probably too much. Industry. Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions. I think this was a big one for him as we went through his schedule is he was so on purpose with everything. And that's what I aspire to do, is be on purpose with everything. I think that's a good strength that I have. I struggle with taking time off, which he did. I'm inspired. He did that every single night. And seven with sincerity, use no hurtful deceit.
Think innocently and justly. And if you speak accordingly, think about the good in people. I read somewhere that we should always try to find common ground and use that. So be sincere and injustice is number eight. Wrong. None by in doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty hold things that a person should know just because you're going to benefit from holding that. This is how I look at it is, yeah, I get it. These are half truths, right? I get it. You didn't hurt that person, but you didn't really tell that person the whole truth. Don't do that. Number nine is moderation. This is going back to number two as well, but kind of a little flip on that. Moderation, avoid extremes for bear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. Avoid extremes going into the gym, and I have to bench 3000 pounds today. It's happening. It's happening. I visualized it all night.
Ouch. Tranquility is number oh, number 10, cleanliness tolerate, no uncleanliness in your body, in your clothes, or in your habitation. I'm down with that. Tranquility is number 11. Be not disturbed at trifold or at accidents. Common or unavoidable. This is so interesting. So if we go to what, which one was it? It was number two, speak not, but what may benefit others nor yourself. Avoid trifling conversation. Don't be trifling yourself. And then number 11, just be cool though, when you're running into trifling, people don't be disturbed by accidents, common or avoidable. He's saying, be cool, man, if you couldn't avoid that. Number 12, chastity rarely use veery, but for health or offspring, never to dullness weakness or the injury of your own or another's piece or reputation. I had to look it up. How often do I had I Google this? And if you me, it's me.
I'm like, how often do married people have sex? Like one? Okay. And so the answer was one. I'm like, what? So anywhere from one to three times a week, you're normal. Anything other than that I guess is veery. Anything higher than that is veery. So yes, I'm that dude. I got to make sure. All right. Okay. Woo. We almost went left. Number 13 is humility. It's funny, after I just said imitate Jesus and Socrates, I don't know how Socrates acted, but I read about Jesus all the time and trying to imitate him is like crazy. So sometimes it's almost hopeless, but thankfully I don't have to be Jesus in order to benefit from Jesus. Come on now. So that is his 13 virtues, and we are going to link to that for you to have it so that you can have it. And I would advise that you have your own list.
You can start with this, but have your own list and rotate through those bad boys. Something like I do. If you want to use Simpleology, you can click the link disclosure. It's going to be an affiliate link, but you can click that link if you want. Yeah, it's an awesome program. Alrighty, so in concluding, I hope you're inspired by what we talked about today about Benjamin Franklin. Whether you're a small business owner, you're an entrepreneur, or you're just somebody who wants to improve yourself, there's so much to learn from Franklin's example. By adopting some of these habits and practices, you can achieve success, just as I say, easily as

Clarence Fisher: He did, but very simply, very simply as he did, they say success is not how much is not adding something else. It's how much can you take away. It's taking something away so that you can concentrate and you can focus. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. I really enjoy every single time you show up. If you haven't, sign up for our newsletter. I think it's yeah, localmarketmonopoly.com, and I'm going to see you next week. Do what you got to do in order to own the block.