The Power of Character Strengths

Welcome to the Introduction in which we learn about the origin story of the VIA Classification. Quick recap.

Over fifty scientists, led by luminaries Christopher Peterson (see Notes on Pursuing the Good Life) and Martin Seligman (see Notes on Learned Optimism, Authentic Happiness, and Flourish), spent several years researching what character strengths are universally recognized as an important part of what makes us optimal humans.

They came up with six of what they called “virtues” and 24 sub-virtues that they called “character strengths.” We actually talked about this in a recent Note on Massimo Pigliucci’s How to Be a Stoic where he captured their approach well.

Here’s how he puts it: “Other cultures have developed, more or less independently, their own sets of virtues as socially important character traits, each arriving at its own classification of the relations among virtues. Interestingly, though, there is much more convergence than we would expect in these days when cultural relativism is so often portrayed as the norm. A study by Katherine Dahlsgaard, Christopher Peterson, and Martin Seligman looked at how virtue is articulated in Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Judaism, Taoism, and what they call ‘Athenian philosophy’ (mostly Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle). They found a rather surprising amount of congruence among all of these religious-philosophical traditions and identified a set of six ‘core’ virtues:

Courage, Justice, Humanity, Temperance, Wisdom, and Transcendence.

Four of the six are indistinguishable from the Stoic virtues. Stoics also accepted the importance of ‘humanity’ and ‘transcendence,’ although they didn’t think of these as virtues, but rather as attitudes toward others (humanity) and toward the universe at large (transcendence).”

So… Six core virtues: Courage + Justice + Humanity + Temperance + Wisdom + Transcendence.

Which are broken down into a total of 24 “Character Strengths” (e.g., Creativity, Bravery, Hope, etc.) which can then be applied in different “Contexts” (“relationships, work, community, etc.”).

It was fun to read the book and see the parallels between how modern scientists are integrating ancient wisdom and how we’re approaching it with our evolving Optimize framework.

Of course, we *all* agree that VIRTUE is the secret sauce to winning the ultimate game of flourishing/living with eudaimonia.

As we discussed in our Notes on Massimo’s How to Be a Stoic (and our Notes on Musonius Rufus’s Lectures), I like to frame the four core virtues as: Wisdom + Self-Mastery + Courage + Love—each with its own virtues that are expressed all day every day in a life well-lived.

The “Contexts” in which they’re expressed? Our Big 3 does the trick: Energy + Work + Love.

Before we move on to discovering and optimally putting our virtues in action, quick note on a very important question: WHY should we care about putting virtues in action?

In short: “Character strengths are basic elements of our identity. When we express these character strengths through our thoughts and actions, research says we tend to feel happier, more connected, and more productive.”

Have you taken the VIA Survey of strengths yet?

If not, cruise on over to www.viacharacter.org. and get on that!

Millions of people have taken the Survey. It will take you just 15 minutes. At the end of it, you’ll get a list of your 24 character strengths from 1 to 24.

(Fun fact: There are 600 sextillion possible combinations. <- That’s a 6 followed by 23 zeroes!)

Research says we want to focus on the top 5 “signature strengths.”

Ryan and Robert tell us: “It is interesting to look at your whole profile and understand (and potentially boost) your middle or lower strengths, but again, we suggest the best thing you can do at this point is to give the closest attention to your highest strengths, your signature strengths. We say this because these are likely to be the closest descriptors of ‘the real you,’ the easiest for you to broaden, and the ones that serve as an immediate resource for good times and bad. In addition, there is good research support for the advantages of using your signature strengths more in your life.”

As I read that passage, Tom Rath came to mind. Tom is a leading researcher on strengths. In Are You Fully Charged? he tells us: “Instead of aspiring to be anything you want to be, you should aim to be more of who you already are. Starting with your natural talents—then investing time in practicing, building skills, and increasing knowledge—yields a much greater return.”

He also tells us: “If you spend most of your life trying to be good at everything, you eliminate your chances of being great at anything. Unless your goal is to be mediocre at a lot of things, starting with what you are naturally good at is a matter of efficiency. Focusing on strengths is in many ways a basic time-allocation issue. Every hour you invest in an area where you have natural talent has a multiplying effect, whereas each hour you spend trying to remedy a weakness is like working against a gravitational force. Yet many people spend years or even decades working on weaknesses in hopes that doing so will make them well-rounded.

Do everything you can to avoid falling into this trap. While well-roundedness may be helpful for acquiring the basic tools in any trade—such as reading, writing, and arithmetic—it loses value as you get closer to finding a career. At that point, what’s more important and relevant is what sets you apart. If you want to be great at something in your lifetime, double down on your talents at every turn.”

Back to the “3 E’s” of signature strengths. They’re ESSENTIAL + EFFORTLESS + ENERGIZING.

So… What are YOUR strengths? And how can you put them in action a little more TODAY?

Science says: Virtue does a mind-body-soul good!

P.S. This is EXACTLY why we have our Mastery students and Heroic Coaches reflect on (and deliberately practice engaging in) their Virtues EVERY DAY via our Carpe Diem journaling!

P.P.S. Here’s the super-quick look at all 24 Character Strengths as catalogued by VIA Institute:

• Wisdom: Creativity + Curiosity + Judgment/Critical Thinking + Love of Learning + Perspective
• Courage: Bravery + Perseverance + Honesty + Zest
• Humanity: Love + Kindness + Social Intelligence
• Justice: Teamwork + Fairness + Leadership
• Temperance: Forgiveness + Humility + Prudence + Self-Regulation
• Transcendence: Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence + Gratitude + Hope + Humor + Spirituality

(Can you guess what the Top 5 virtues are? <- Hope + Zest + Love + Curiosity + Gratitude.)

Pop quiz: Can you have TOO MUCH of any given virtue?! Answer: YES!!

Always good to remember that too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. :)

Which is why Aristotle (see Notes on The Nicomachean Ethics) said this 2,500 years ago: “A cardinal rule: right conduct is incompatible with excess or deficiency – First, then, we must consider this fact: that it is in the nature of moral qualities that they are destroyed by deficiency and excess, just as we can see (since we have to use the evidence of visible facts to throw light on those that are invisible) in the case of health and strength. For both excessive and insufficient exercise destroy one’s strength, and both eating and drinking too much or too little destroy health, whereas the right quantity produces, increases and preserves it. So it is the same with temperance, courage and the other virtues. The man who shuns and fears everything and stands up to nothing becomes a coward; the man who is afraid of nothing at all, but marches up to every danger, becomes foolhardy. Similarly the man who indulges in every pleasure and refrains from none becomes licentious; but if a man behaves like a boor and turns his back on every pleasure, he is a case of insensibility. Thus temperance and courage are destroyed by excess and deficiency and preserved by the mean.”

<- The Golden (Virtuous!) Mean. Thank you, Aristotle.

Ryan and Robert walks us through the 24 expressions of virtue and give us examples of each virtue being underused and overused and optimally used.

For now… What’re YOUR top virtues? And… How can use them optimally TODAY?

Zest.

The VIA researchers drop this under the virtue-umbrella of “Courage.”

Part of a longer chat about the challenges of cataloging virtue, but I’d put Zest under our core virtue of “Self-Mastery.” In fact, I think Zest (or Energy as we refer to it) is the natural by-product of a life lived in integrity with the core fundamentals: eating, moving, sleeping, etc.

What’s most interesting to me is the fact that Zest is one of the Top 2 virtues most correlated with flourishing. Can you guess what the other one is? HOPE.

Not only are Hope + Zest the Top 2 Virtues, they’re also super-closely connected. Remember how sleep is like a bridge from despair to hope? As you might’ve noticed, when you’re not feeling zesty, you’re also not feeling too hopeful—which is pretty much why all of our work together could pretty much be boiled down to helping us Optimize our Zest and our Hope so we can show up most fully (and virtuously!) in our Work and our Love.

Hope. As you know if you’ve been following along, it’s one of my favorite virtues. Check out our Notes on Making Hope Happen and The Psychology of Hope for more.

For now, here’s an exercise to cultivate your Hope muscles: Imagine the best version of you in one year. How do you feel? How do you show up in your Work + Love? Know (!) that, although it’s not going to be easy, you can make that best version of you a reality.

So… Here’s to giving ourselves the best shot at making that vision a reality by putting our virtues in action… TODAY!