How to Make Franklin's 13 Virtues Chart (Or Just Print Ours)

Franklin's chart wasn't complicated — that was the point. A grid, thirteen labels, seven columns, one dot per failure. You can rule one yourself in about five minutes. Here's exactly how, plus the mistakes that make most DIY versions harder to actually use than the original.

Key Takeaways

• Franklin's chart was 13 rows × 7 columns — one virtue per row, one day per column
• He marked a single dot per fault, not a description or a score
• The most common DIY mistake is making the boxes too small to write in
• You don't need to redraw it weekly — a template you photocopy or print works fine
• We already built a ready-made version if you'd rather skip the ruler

What Franklin's Original Chart Looked Like

In his Autobiography, Franklin describes ruling a small book with red ink into columns, one for each day of the week, marked with the first letter of the day at the top. He crossed those with 13 red lines, one per virtue, with the virtue's name at the start of each row. Every evening, he'd go through the 13 rows and put a black dot in any box where he'd failed that virtue that day.

"I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues. I ruled each page with red ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day of the week… and I crossed these columns with thirteen red lines."

He focused on one virtue per week — giving it "strict attention" while still watching for lapses in the other twelve — and cycled through all 13 four times a year.

Building Your Own, Step by Step

1. Rule a 13×7 grid on a sheet of paper, in a notebook, or in a spreadsheet if you'd rather print a fresh one weekly.
2. Label the 13 rows with the virtues, in Franklin's order: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, Humility.
3. Label the 7 columns Sunday through Saturday (or start your week wherever suits you).
4. Pick a weekly focus virtue and note it somewhere prominent on the page.
5. Mark one dot per fault each evening — across all 13 virtues, not only the week's focus.

Mistakes to Avoid

Boxes too small to actually mark

The most common issue with printable versions floating around online: cramming 13 rows and 7 columns onto a page with almost no line spacing. If a box is smaller than a pen tip, you won't use it past week one.

Grading instead of marking

Franklin's system used a single dot — pass/fail, nothing more. Adding a 1–10 score or a paragraph of notes turns a 30-second evening habit into homework. Keep it binary.

Tracking everything at once

The grid has all 13 virtues, but the method only asks for strict attention on one per week. Trying to actively improve all 13 simultaneously is the single fastest way to abandon the whole system — see our post on staying consistent with new habits for why fewer targets works better.

Or Just Print the One We Already Made

If ruling your own grid isn't how you want to spend the next ten minutes, we already typeset one — sized for a pen, with proper margins, as part of a free 10-page PDF. No email required.