Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people. Dennis Prager
Have you ever heard of the word “ethos”?
According to dictionary.com, ethos means:
In Sociology
*the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period
In the Greek ethos the individual was highly valued –
*the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc./the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character’s action rather than his or her thought or emotion.
The “ethos” is the character we keep building and keep showing up with every single day.
When I was initiating to write this article, I remembered the inspiration I got from the 2 podcasts of Cory Muscara on the topics of Strengths and Values. It urged me to think about the fact that I haven’t defined both of those for my own in a while. Noticing that I felt like I was losing touch with myself, this was a timely reminder to for me to dive deep and explore what I have been overlooking.
When considering the strengths and values, one should know that they both define our character. They are the aspects of our personality that make us who we are. As a result, is it important to keep nurturing and developing them.
As stated in the definition of the word “ethos” at the beginning of the article it reflects our beliefs and the actions that we take accordingly – those then form our character. Every single action that we take in the line of our values – those are also considered our strengths. This made me think, what are the significant actions that I have taken in my own life that were aligned with my values? What were those strengths?
I remember being always very concerned about my school results, rarely letting things go by a chance…meaning, my value could be a success, which is also relevant now because my study habits haven’t changed or gotten worse, conversely, they improved. There was a rare time that I would give up, therefore, another value could be the determination. I liked to be my own boss and working on my things in my way.
In the relationships, it was also always simple for me. Being always there for those who needed me was very essential for me for feeling good about my part in a relationship. Having only few friends, following upon our agreements or being consistent with each other was something so crucial that without this I could not imagine a relationship. The values such as trust, patience, loyalty and honesty also transferred later into my actions and expectations in a romantic relationship.
On the top of this knowledge about myself that I observed through my behavior, I decided to take a test to determine my STRENGTHS only. Few months earlier -14.9.2020- I took the CliftonStrengths Online Talent Assessment as a part of the task for my masters degree for the course of Professional Skills & Ethics. Test included 177 paired statements that helped me to distinguish which were my top five strengths. The results showed the following:
1. Deliberative
People exceptionally talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate obstacles.
2. Intellection
People exceptionally talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
3. Input
People exceptionally talented in the Input theme have a need to collect and archive. They may accumulate information, ideas, artifacts or even relationships.
4. Learner
People exceptionally talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
5. Futuristic
People exceptionally talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They energize others with their visions of the future.
I think the results complimented my previous observations, although they concluded more clearly that I am a strategic thinker, in general.
In case you also want to take such test, go to this website.
Price for the test is $49.99 USD. However I think there are also other ‘less professional” options out there on the internet.
How to maintain your own ethos even in unpredictable situations?
In this case, I would say, we should rely on our feelings, intuition and logical thinking. If we appear to end up in circumstances that make us feel uncomfortable, tensed or that go against our core beliefs, we need to be aware enough to notice this and either address this actuality or change our behavior, or simply, remove ourselves from the situation if there is no other way to solve the clashing opinions or values.
It is easier to maintain our “ethos” (beliefs and actions) in the circumstances in which we rely only on ourselves. There is only us in charge and we can control the majority of the actions around us. However in the interpersonal situations on any level, it can get more tricky because we are not able to “control” the responses or actions of others. When we get together with people we fancy, we feel a degree of an alignment of theirs and our own values, although no one can ever be 100% sure about how one person may change over time and which pieces of their character have not been revealed yet.
Therefore, it is important to take time at some point in our life and think back about our way of life and define our strengths and values for ourselves to understand our “ethos”. Only then we are able to follow our true character and know what type of people or situations would be a great match for us.
What are you key strengths and values?
Share them in the comments below!
Hey There. I discovered your blog using msn. That is an extremely smartly written article. Iona Thibaut Resee
Thank you