Cameron Gunn considered himself a regular guy-a pretty good husband, father, attorney, and friend.

But was there room for improvement?

A reader of history and a fan of Ben Franklin (and weary of self-help advice that never seems to offer much help), Gunn decided to try a little experiment. He would attempt to live by Franklin's thirteen virtues, a list of lofty ideals the Founding Father held dear, as enumerated in his famous autobiography.

Would Gunn's plan to improve his life, Citizen Ben-style, prove to be a brilliant...