In another post I’ve described this idea of virtues. What interests me is this. Which characteristics and qualities would I hope to develop in my life? I believe that we all create our own personal hero narratives as the main way of having a sense of self and of growing and developing that self. This kind of life project of growth has been variously described by other authors. Jung focussed on what he termed “individuation”. The evolutionary biologists, contemporary neuroscientists, and neurophilosophers have all shown that human beings are continuously in a process of development of strengths, characteristics and qualities.
I’ve conducted my own synthesis of Franklin’s and Seligman’s virtues and strengths to come up with a personal virtue map.
Here’s an image of the map –
You’ll see this has five main “nodes” – each of these refers to a major virtue cluster – Wisdom in the middle (because for me that’s the centre of it all), then Calm, Action, Transcendence and Temperance. Around each of these nodes I’ve picked a few qualities or characteristics that I’d like to be part of how I grow.
Here’s a summary –
Wisdom (which is about awareness of the world)
- Curiosity
- Love of Learning
- Creativity
- Understanding
Curiosity and Love of Learning are simply what they are – reflecting, enquiring and learning.
Creativity encompasses the ideas of ingenuity, of novelty, and of emergence.
Understanding encompasses the ideas of perspective, judgement, emotional intelligence and empathy.
Calm (stillness and serenity)
- Silence
- Tranquillity
- Slow
Silence is about finding times without talking, without music or noise. It’s also about valuing conversation, not trivialising it.
Tranquillity is that calm that allows you to remain unflustered or unfazed in the face of trivial difficulties and random events.
Slow is about taking your time, savouring and relishing what you are doing.
Action (engaging with the world and with people)
- Resolution
- Perseverance
- Industry
- Sincerity
- Kindness
- Fairness
Resolution is deciding to do certain things and actually doing what’s been resolved to do.
Perseverance is sticking at something to see it through.
Industry is about being active
Sincerity, kindness and fairness are values which can be used to assess the quality of acts towards others.
Temperance (living within limits)
- Moderation
- Frugality
Moderation is about enjoying something without spoiling it by taking it to excess.
Frugality is about not being wasteful, spending productively and well.
Transcendence (living beyond our selves)
- Appreciation of beauty
- Gratitude
- Hope
- Humour
- Zest
Appreciation of beauty in all things – the physical world, people, the Arts.
Gratitude and hope are the building blocks of positivity. Gratitude looks back and keeps positive experiences alive whilst hope looks forward and creates the conditions for positive experiences in the future.
Humour and zest are forms of passion. Humour is a lightening of the heart and zest is an energy of the heart.
So, what’s next? I created the mindmap using Mondomo (the map’s name is “virtues”) and exported it as a jpeg which I’ve now printed out onto a 6 x 4 inch index card. I’ll start carrying it around with me and my idea is reflect on it every morning and every evening. By doing that I hope I’ll bring focus and intention to these “virtues” – and if they’re worth developing, I’ll experience the payoff in an increased quality of my life. I’ll keep you posted!
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