News and Updates:

Beginner session starts on 7/1/26. If you’re in RVA, sign up here. Classes every Tues and Thurs from 6 - 7 PM at 8600 Lakefront Dr., Henrico, VA 23294.
Member referral program. Distance learners who get a friend to sign will earn a feat in the program — and you’ll both get a free shirt. Just tell them to put your name in the “referred by” slot on the application. Members in the RVA club, bring a friend and the same goes for you!

METTLE MAKER #502: Habitude of the Founding Fathers

Pursuing the 7 Habitudes of the Founding Fathers is a great way to acknowledge the 250th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence coming up in a few weeks (for the backstory see here and here). In pursuing these 7 behaviors, it is essential to begin with the understanding that the founding fathers were in all in a relentless quest for virtue -- not solely to benefit themselves, but to benefit the society as a whole. Because, for them, personal self-government was a prerequisite for political self-government.

So by all means join me in pursuing these habits. But not solely because you think it'll make you more successful, popular, wealthy, good looking, or what-have-you. Do it because it will benefit you, your family, your state, and your nation.

If you want to follow along and share what you're up to, let's use #7h250.

Habitude 1: Set a Schedule

Set and keep a strict schedule. This was a universal on the part of all the founders. Franklin famously said, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man, healthy, wealthy, and wise." Jefferson said, "Rise at a fixed and an early hour, and go to bed at a fixed and early hour also. Sitting up late at night is injurious to the health, and not useful to the mind." According to Washington’s adopted daughter Nelly Custis-Lewis, “He always rose before the sun and remained in his library until called to breakfast..” And, like Patrick Henry, it seems he spent the final hour of the day in private prayer and reflection. “It was his custom to retire to his library at nine or ten o'clock where he remained an hour before he went to his chamber. I never witnessed his private devotions.”

“A place for everything and everything in its place”

Create time slots for exercise, projects, journaling, reading, prayer, and so on. If something happens and you miss the mark, don’t allow it to affect the other slots or one slip will derail the whole plan.

Personally, I’ve always imagined my day as a tackle box or a storage container for parts. Set aside time for certain tasks, and don’t switch slots. I always work on one of my book projects on lunch break, either writing or editing. If, for some unforeseen reason, I don’t get a lunch break, I don’t kick anything out of it’s slot later in the day. After dinner and chatting with my wife, I play guitar for 20 minutes, watch TV with my wife, and spend the last hour of the day reading. If something happens that interferes with any of those things, I just miss the one thing — I do not allow one blip to derail the plan.

I learned this from my work in the accounting field. This is the way budgets work. If you stick to budget, and you don’t rob from one area to give to another, you’ll stay on track. Let’s say you have an older car you own free and clear, so you budget $300/month in auto maintenance because you know that it costs about $3,600/year to maintain the vehicle. If you have no repair costs one month, you don’t spend the $300. You leave it in the account. That way, if you need a new alternator next month, you’ll have $600 in the account to pay for it. If you spend the money you accrued for repairs, the cascading effects will wreck the whole budget.

The same is true of time. Make a time budget and stick to it.

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Sacred Reading for 6/21/26

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Lectio Divina is an ancient way to interact with the Bible. Its four elements are reading, meditation, contemplation, and prayer. Click here for the Sunday Lectio exercise. To watch daily mass, CLICK HERE. For daily gospel reflections in your email box, SIGN UP HERE.