The Secret Advantage of Character

The Secret Advantage of Character
Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues for Building Discipline, Integrity, Leadership, and Lasting Success

More than two centuries ago, Benjamin Franklin created a practical system for improving himself through thirteen carefully chosen virtues. He did not assume character was fixed, nor did he believe good intentions were enough. He tracked his conduct, examined his failures, concentrated on one virtue at a time, and treated personal growth as something that could be practiced deliberately.

In The Secret Advantage of Character, Bill Riggs brings Franklin’s thirteen virtues into the modern world and shows why they may be more relevant now than ever.

This is not simply a book about Benjamin Franklin. It is a practical examination of self-government, personal responsibility, leadership, relationships, business, discipline, and the habits that determine who we become.

Franklin’s original virtues—Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility—may sound old-fashioned at first. Yet each addresses a distinctly modern problem.

Together, the thirteen virtues form a practical system for developing stronger character.

Throughout the book, Riggs connects Franklin’s method with the realities of modern life, including leadership, entrepreneurship, professional responsibility, family relationships, digital distraction, financial stewardship, communication, personal accountability, and faith. The result is not an eighteenth-century philosophy lesson, but a contemporary framework for becoming more deliberate about how you live and lead.

You will discover why:

• Character must be practiced before it is tested.
• Repeated behavior becomes habit before it becomes reputation.
• Success can magnify weaknesses as easily as strengths.
• Discipline becomes easier when supported by reliable systems.
• Trust is built through consistency rather than image.
• Small compromises can become large consequences through repetition.
• Self-examination is one of the foundations of meaningful personal growth.
• Strong character creates greater freedom, not greater restriction.
• Leadership eventually reveals the character of the person holding authority.
• Reputation should be the consequence of character, not the objective.

The book also develops Franklin’s original virtue ledger into a modern Character Ledger readers can use to examine recurring behavior, identify patterns, make practical corrections, and measure improvement over time. Rather than demanding perfection, the system emphasizes awareness, accountability, repeated practice, and increasingly consistent alignment between values and behavior.

Included are practical tools for continuing the work beyond the final chapter, including a 13-Week Character Ledger, Quarterly Character Audit, 30-Day Getting Started Plan, and Personal Character Code.

Franklin understood something that modern success culture sometimes overlooks: achievement alone does not determine the quality of a life. Talent can create opportunity. Ambition can produce results. Knowledge can increase capability. But character determines what we do with all three.

If you want to become more disciplined, dependable, thoughtful, trustworthy, effective, and intentional in the way you conduct your life, The Secret Advantage of Character offers a practical place to begin.

Success may open doors. Character determines what happens after you walk through them.