Forget The 7 Deadly Sins, Focus Instead on The 7 Beautiful Virtues! | By Steve Mitten, MCC

As a culture, we have a tendency to focus on the negative. That's why I liked this article by Master Coach Steve Mitten. I found myself wondering, "What would be my 7 Beautiful Virtues?". Well, see what you think of Steve's chosen virtues, and how you might answer his questions at the end.

Over the Easter Holiday, my local newspaper ran an article on the "7 Deadly Sins". This term attributed to Charles Dickens refers to the biblical sins of Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony and Lust which are thought to be "deadly" to the spiritual life. The point of the article was to show how many of these "sins" have become mainstream in our culture.

I will let others rant about the degradation of modern civilization. But what the "Sins" article brought up in me was instead a question around what are the most important virtues.

Specifically, I wanted to know what 7 virtues we (all of us in this modern world) would most benefit from embracing and living each and every day.

After a little soul searching, research, and tuning into the ether of universal wisdom, here are my candidates for the "7 Beautiful Virtues", virtues that would have the greatest positive impact on life on earth.

Here are my 7 Beautiful Virtues

1. Faith: The ability to believe in the better.
2. Compassion: The ability to choose to let go of fear and to choose to love others and all living things.
3. Forgiveness: The generosity of spirit to begin anew.
4. Service: The desire to live for the benefit of others.
5. Courage: The strength to do what is right, even though you are scared.
6. Wisdom: The ability to see the bigger picture and access the deeper truth.
7. Commitment: The resolve to do what needs to be done.

Of course, many answers are possible here. We could list different virtues until the cows come home. And I don't want to try to settle any debate once and for all.

Rather my goal is to simply suggest that if we all focused a little more effort in bringing these virtues into our lives, the world would be a much better place.

I'll leave you with a couple of questions to think about

• What would your 7 Beautiful Virtues be?
• And what virtue, if you focused on it today, would add the largest value to your life?

And if you liked this article, you may also like these articles and resources:

• Rapport: The Magic Ingredient in Relationships also by Steve Mitten
• 7 Coaching Questions to Identify Values with Your Client!
• *Free* Value Examples List! 89 Values to give you ideas for your virtues!

Why not share YOUR Top Virtue or all 7 Beautiful Virtues in the comments below?

Contributing Author:

Steve Mitten B.ApSc., CPCC, MCC. Steve is a Master Certified Business & Executive Life Coach, and Past President of the ICF (International Coaching Federation). Please Note: Steve has now transitioned into retirement.

Learn more about Steve & see all their articles here >>