Develop Character

Character – Activity: Develop Character

“Character is who we are when no one is watching.” – John Wooden

Personal qualities are positive character traits. Our character is revealed by our actions and based on our values and personal qualities. Learn more about different kinds of values and how to discover them at Map Your Values. Look over the qualities listed below and choose some that you would like to develop.

Core Values

Core values have intrinsic worth, and many are universal across different cultures.

Six Pillars of Character from Character Counts:

• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship

Shared values from “Moral Courage” by Rushworth Kidder (Affiliate link: I receive a small commission at no additional cost to your if you click through and make a purchase with an affiliate link. Thank you for your support!)

• Honesty
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Compassion

Qualities from “The Book of Virtues” by William J Bennett (Affiliate link: I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase with an affiliate link. Thank you for your support!)

• Courage
• Self-Discipline
• Responsibility
• Work
• Friendship
• Honesty
• Compassion
• Loyalty
• Determination
• Faith

24 VIA Character Strengths at www.viacharacter.org

Personal values

Personal values are more subjective and can vary. For example, one person may value art highly, while another places greater value on education. Find tools to choose your top values at Map Your Values.

Values at Work

Personal qualities are one of the three foundation skills identified by the Secretaries Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). Employers want employees who display responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity and honesty. A pdf from the Job Center of Wisconsion provides a detailed list of self-management skills. Explore links at the Discover U Toolkit at Wakelet or Google: try a traits quiz to identify your personal qualities or use a Johari Window to ask others. See more ideas at the Character and Values Pinterest Board. If you were an employer, how would you describe your ideal employee? Compare your description to the list below.

• Responsibility
• Self-Esteem
• Sociability
• Self-Management
• Integrity/Honesty

What qualities are you looking for in a relationship? Likely many of those qualities are on these lists as well.

“Values are attributes of the person you want to be.” –20 Common Values at Nir and Far

Plan to Develop Character

“Good character is not formed in a week or month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character”. – Heraclitus

1. Choose a quality that you want to develop.
2. Write down the definition. Definitions at The Virtues Project, Definitions at Character Lab
3. Find a quotation about the quality. Inspirational quotes at passiton.com, and Reel Life Wisdom.
4. Look for examples of actions that reveal the quality.
5. Plan ways to increase the quality in yourself.

• Try an app from virtuesmatter.org.
• Get ideas for developing 52 qualities from the book “Healthy Wealthy and Wise: 52 Life-Changing Lessons for the Twenty-first Century” by Andrea Rains Waggener, inspired by Ben Franklin. (Affiliate link: I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase with an affiliate link. Thank you for your support!)
• Explore scenarios of situations with ethical choices(one of the clues to discover values at Map Your Values) at happierhuman.com
• Watch The Science of Character from Letitripple.org
• Watch The test that reveals your hidden strengths with Laurie Santos at Big Think

Explore links at the Discover U Toolkit at Wakelet | More tools at the Brand and Purpose Toolkit | Look at Your Values (Part 5 of the Discover U series | Learn more at Map Your Values

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development, and part of a self-assessment to uncover hidden talents.

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.