Benjamin Franklin
Essay by review • February 4, 2011 • Essay • 561 Words (3 Pages) • 1,419 Views
Benjamin Franklin believed that by watching and studying one's own behavior, that person would be able to improve themselves by knowing their like and dislikes, wants and needs, etc. I agree with Franklin's theory and think that this is one of the few things in life that a person has control over in order to change their overall being. For the best or worst knowing yourself makes it easier to decide things for yourself and gets a person to become, in a way, one with themselves.
Analyzing one's own behavior is very beneficial if the person is strong or willing enough to not only realize their good qualities but also recognize the bad things about themselves. By studying your behavior you can find things that make up your character and, individually change or eliminate those factors so that you're a better person. If a person is mentally weak, the recognizing of their bad traits may discourage them or cause a downfall in some aspect of their lives. You would be able to focus more on how you want to be and work towards that goal b y "adding or subtracting" good traits for bad ones.
Working towards your goal would be fulfilling in that you're working towards a physical and/or mental mindset of how you want to be. Of course, no one would have the same goal. One person's goal may sound like another's but our differing characters and ways of examining life will make them different and unique. In my own experience, examining my behavior helped me to begin exercising. Before I started to exercise, I had a lot of extra time on my hands and felt that I wasn't where I wanted to be physically because of noticing that I wasn't able to run as fast as I once could. After realizing this, I began to exercise and, enjoyed it to the point where after my running time returned I continued to work out. I felt good about myself and how exercising is a part of my schedule. I found out what I needed to fill the gap in my life through self-examination.
Although self-improvement by self-examination, in my opinion is good, there are limits. No human being is perfect! If you try to become perfect, you will fail. We all have our own faults and they may or may not exist all the time. No matter what, we always commits faults, even if we don't act them out, thinking them is just as bad. When we examine ourselves, we have to be realistic in what we want to improve. It's impossible
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