At a recent Women’s Day of Recollection at our church, led by our pastor, he made multiple references to ways that we could increase virtue in our lives; he mentioned that we could look at every moment as an opportunity to practice virtue, and that we should take every one of those opportunities, so as to maintain spiritual fervor in serving the Lord. That brought me to the kind of “aha” moment we (coaches) relish, even when they come from within us!
I’ve been trained and now practice coaching through the lens of positive psychology, the field of study and research that speaks to “what goes right” with people and how we might create circumstances in which we can thrive and be at our best. Of the many gifts to the world of coaching and therapy initiated by positive psychologists, one of the most helpful to my clients and to me is the VIA Survey of Character Strengths. It’s a free, open-source survey that takes about 20-30 minutes to do and on completion, you get a profile of your own character strengths in rank order from the most to the least strong.
Many of us who use the tool regularly pay particular attention to the top five or so strengths, often referred to as signature strengths; they reflect our default, always-at-the-ready responses to most situations in life, whether they be challenges or opportunities. We are most energized when we get to express our signature strengths regularly, and associate this with greater life satisfaction. Research on the use of character strengths in schools, in business, and in parenting, among many other areas, has revealed broad application of the VIA survey [Niemiec, 2017].
Here’s another interesting thing about the VIA: The 24-character strengths are grouped according to the virtues of Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence. In all my training and study about character strengths, and the use of this specific tool, the fact that the above virtues were the starting point in the creation of this survey got very little airtime. It was like being hit with a lightning bolt when I realized that, by making greater effort to use my strengths in an intentional way every day, I could also be living more virtuously!
That led me to my “aha” moment: It’s my moral obligation to lean into my strengths. I know God is calling me to show up at my best, consciously, every day. I know my strengths and I know what it looks and feels like when I use them with good purpose. I, and the people in my immediate surroundings, all win. I engage in more virtue and help others by doing so. I am, in essence, expressing greater virtue when I consciously live up to my strengths.
Does this get you thinking? The website link included earlier in this post is the most direct way to access the survey, and your results are available immediately. That’s only about 30-minutes standing between you and a more virtuous life! What are you waiting for?
Source: Niemiec, R.M. (2017). Character strengths interventions; A field guide for practitioners. Boston, MA: Hogrefe
To connect with Irene Nizzero, visit his directory profile at
https://www.catholiclifecoaches.com/irene-nizzero
- Be More Virtuous: Engage Your Character Strengths - May 22, 2025
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