In This Article
"Character is not ready-made but is created bit by bit and day by day."
- Edna Lyall
Character traits are essential for happiness because they help us better understand ourselves and our motivations, and they shape how we interact with the world around us.
Character traits provide us with a sense of identity, a sense of purpose, and a sense of belonging. They help us make decisions and take action in our lives.
Character traits can also provide us with a sense of comfort and security when faced with challenging situations. They can help us stay motivated and focused on our goals and objectives.
Ultimately, character traits are essential for happiness because they help us create a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
Do you know the most satisfying feeling in the world? It is knowing that you can work on yourself to become an even greater version of yourself.
So What is Happiness?
Happiness in psychology can be defined as "a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences either in a narrow sense, when good things happen in a specific moment, or more broadly, as a positive evaluation of one’s life and accomplishments overall—that is, subjective well-being" (Britannica, 2022).
In simple words, happiness is a feeling of being content and satisfied with one's life. It can be experienced when good things happen in a certain moment or when a person looks back on their life and feels positive about it.
"A man is nothing but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."
- Mahatma Gandhi
What's the difference between character and personality traits?
- Character traits are qualities or attributes that describe a person’s character. They are usually positive traits that show a person’s strengths, such as being honest, responsible, and kind. Character traits are stable and long-lasting, meaning they are unlikely to change over time.
- Personality traits, on the other hand, are qualities or attributes that describe how a person behaves in different situations. They are often more fluid and changeable than character traits, as they are influenced by a person’s experiences, environment, and relationships. Personality traits can be both positive and negative, such as being outgoing or shy, extroverted or introverted, and open-minded or closed-minded.
Best Positive Character Traits in Good Person
Everyone has a different opinion on what the best character traits are, it is a subjective topic.
We think that positive character traits make your and others' lives richer. Your personality characteristics should bring about a positive change in your life.
A few good personality traits that come to mind in this area are ambition, optimism, emotional stability, and enthusiasm. These are the traits that will not only sustain you but will enrich your life.
Human beings are indeed social animals. It means that you cannot be the best version of yourself if you are not having a positive impact on others' lives. What character traits are needed for that? Off the top of our heads, we would name generosity, compassion, kindness, and being encouraging to other people.
How Positive Traits Can Impact Someone's Life?
Some people fail to see the direct link between positive character traits and a happy life, but in reality good traits are foundation of personal happiness.
How many times have you looked at a person and thought that they looked beautiful but their personality did not add up?
There are a lot of us who forget that a beautiful heart is worth 100x a pretty face. Personality is what makes and breaks a person. Good looks can only last so long. With admirable personality traits in your arsenal, you can win over the whole world.
Can Personality Traits be Learned? How?
It is true that there is a strong genetic disposition to our personalities but did you know that our environment has a humungous effect on them? (Hopwood, C. J., 2011)
Scientists have found that personality traits can be learned (Dweck, 2011).
Do you think that your personality is the same that you had around eight years ago? It is not!
Some personality aspects are pretty stale but others change with age. The changes in your personality are brought about by the thousands of interactions that you've had with your environment.
There are some personality traits that you can learn over time. All you will need to do is practice the acts that characterize them constantly. Soon, they will become a part of you. A few examples of such traits are kindness, honesty, optimism, self-discipline, loyalty, etc.
The journey we will take you on will help you identify your needs and wants.
Ultimately, by developing good personality traits, you will become a healthy person in all aspects for yourself and the world.
Traits Important for a Happy & Fulfilled Life
A person who cares about their growth and works on it is admirable. It is a constant struggle to be a better person but it is worth it.
Our thoughts make up who we are and we can nurture them to be of the best kind by investing in ourselves.
We would like to emphasize that learning and incorporating new personality traits take time so be patient with yourself.
1. Integrity
Integrity immediately translates into sticking to one's moral principles and being strictly honest.
A person with this trait remains true to themselves even if no one is watching. If you have integrity, people will trust you in their dealings.
Integrity is an honorable trait to have. It is one of the highest medals in terms of character traits.
2. Conscientiousness
A person possessing conscientiousness is careful and diligent about everything.
You can know you have this trait if you are organized and efficient which should make your life easier. You will find yourself making fewer blunders in your decision and garnering much more success than others.
People might consider it to be high maintenance but you need to remember it differently. It is about living efficiently but not overburdening yourself.
3. Honesty
Being honest means being transparent about the matter at hand. Honesty is the characteristic of being truthful, sincere, and trustworthy.
Armed with this, you will be mentally at peace and people will prefer to be around you. Lies needlessly complicate life. They should not be on anyone's moral compass.
No one likes a fake or dishonest person because it is not an authentic way to be in a relationship with someone. People want to be able to trust the person they are interacting with, and a dishonest or fake person can make that difficult.
Becoming an honest person takes time, effort, and dedication. It means being open and truthful about your feelings, thoughts, and actions.
It means being willing to accept responsibility for your words and actions and to take ownership of the consequences that come from them. It means being willing to admit mistakes and learn from them.
Finally, it means being willing to hold yourself to a higher standard and strive to be the best version of yourself.
We do not expect you to become a saint. It would be good for you to be honest with the people most dear to you.
4. Loyalty
A person who is faithful to another human being or even a cause would be called loyal.
Ever wonder why dogs are called man's best friends? It is because they are loyal to them.
When you have loyalty toward someone or something, you feel a sense of belonging to that particular person/thing. With loyalty sown in your soul, you will have relationships as strong as Hulk is.
Here are some interesting quotes about loyalty to shift your perspective.
5. Optimism
The ability to always look on the brighter side can be known as optimism.
It is an important personality trait to develop and nurture as it helps your mental health. With it, you will be positively able to affect others around you. Optimism will raise your happiness levels like no other thing.
Whenever you are down in the dumps, think of optimism as your lifeboat. It tends to work better than any other drug.
Here are some uplifting words and quotes to help you become more optimistic.
6. Responsibility
One of the most important traits for a good, happy, and successful life is a sense of responsibility.
Responsibilities can be different for everyone depending on their culture, region, religion, financial status,..etc
When you are responsible, you will work hard to make good on your word. It will allow you to focus on your duties towards yourself and the people you hold important.
7. Perseverance
Perseverance is when you go after your objective or goal no matter how difficult the path gets.
Have you ever heard of people advancing in their lives because they gave up quickly? No one has!
Perseverance is the trait that makes a person successful in every part of their life. If you persevere, you will achieve all your dreams.
Whenever you feel like giving up, just push yourself a little harder. And if you need motivation then here are some quotes to lift your spirits up and overcome obstacles so you can get some energy and keep going.
8. Humility
Often characterized as a virtue, humility is being humble within and about yourself.
Nobody likes a person who brags a lot. An indirect way to win over people is to have humility.
If you want to grow as a person, you must develop humility. With it, you will never oversell yourself nor will you encroach on someone's rights.
9. Ambitiousness
Do you ever feel in your bones that you have to achieve something no matter what? It is also called ambitiousness and will get you far in life.
It is good to be ambitious about everything in your life as long as you don't overdo it.
Burnout is a real psychological phenomenon and you do not want it. Keep a balance when you are exerting your energy after your ambitions.
10. Respectfulness
It is a trait that allows you to give people regard for their feelings and who they are as people.
Respectfulness will allow you to foster safe and amicable relationships with others. It will give you a newfound lens through which to look at the world.
Can you imagine how peaceful the world will be if everyone was respectful to the next person? It would be like paradise.
11. Kindness
Every person possessing good personality traits should include kindness in their repertoire.
You will be called a kind person when you are sympathetic, understanding, and helpful to the people around you.
It will directly have a good impact on other people but it will also give you the necessary softness in your personality.
It is important to spread your kindness to your species and to other as well. Be kind to animals and plants. Never harm anything or anyone.
Here are some ways you can get started on your journey to becoming more kinder human being.
12. Considerate
Are you caring towards fellow human beings? Are you polite? If so, you will be called a considerate person.
To give consideration to others is a sure way to invite good karma to yourself in the future.
If you are considerate to someone, there will surely come a day when they give it back to you.
13. Politeness
Politeness means acting in a manner that is respectful and considerate of others. This includes being courteous, showing good manners, and speaking in an appropriate tone.
Politeness comes out of good manners and strong ethics.
You can take it up a notch and start speaking in softer tones and using kind words. It will earn you countless plus points in life.
A person is indeed taught politeness at home but if you were not, you can develop it.
14. Fairness
Fairness is said to be dispensed when one person deals with others in a just manner.
We all want to be dealt with fairly. When you are fair to someone, you give them exactly what they deserve.
If you are fair to others, you will never overexert yourself in your social life nor would you be caught slacking off.
If you have trouble being fair, just ask yourself how you would like to be treated in that particular situation.
15. Courageousness
Courageousness is to embody bravery. It is to have the heart of a lion in the body of a human.
If you make it a part of your personality, people will flock around you. Not only that, you will be able to take on any endeavor that you think of. Fear will not completely vanish but you will be able to vanquish it.
With courageousness within you, you will be to take on the stormy seas and the tallest mountains.
16. Compassion
It is when you have deep emotions for other people's troubles. It is feeling care for another being as much as you would care for yourself.
Compassion is not only feeling the emotion but also the ability to show it to the target person.
Always express your compassion through actions or at least by using tasteful words.
People who are sad would always appreciate your words of compassion.
17. Thoroughness
It counts as one of the positive traits in a person. It is when you are careful, vigilant, and attentive to a task, mission, or journey.
If you can discover this within yourself, you will be able to do every activity in your life properly.
Remember that you are no sloppy Susan hence you will go through all the motions to get something done right.
18. Forgiveness
Forgiveness is counted as one of the positive character traits because it allows you to cultivate strong social relationships. It is the ability to let go of any wrongdoing of another individual.
It will take a lot of time to develop this trait because it is hard to move on. Once you do, you will have less burden on your shoulder and in your heart.
The first step would be to ask yourself whether you would like to be forgiven for your mistakes or not. Once you accept that you will like forgiveness from others, you would be inclined to give it to others too.
19. Self-disciplined
Self-discipline is having the power to encourage yourself to keep going on.
When you have self-discipline, you will continue on your path no matter how you feel mentally, emotionally, or physically.
It is the trait that will serve as your guiding light throughout your life.
Self-discipline will carry you through life smoothly. You will be able to control your emotions in a healthy manner. If you feel that you have any weak points, you will be able to overcome them with time.
Nourish it enough and you can use it to climb the ladder of life high.
20. Reliability
Reliability comes close to consistency and resilience wrapped in a strong package.
When you have reliability, you are true to yourself and your goals. If people find you reliable, they would trust you with their secrets and take your word as it is.
Reliability is a healthy trait as it will propel you forward in terms of your achievements. If you develop and maintain it, you would be able to trust yourself.
21. Lovingness
Love is an intense feeling of deep affection for someone or something.
It is a strong emotion that can be experienced for a variety of reasons, including family, friends, partners, and even pets
Do you have the ability to love? One would argue that all humans love but not all love at the same level. The more you develop this quality, the more your life will become appealing. You will be able to find beauty in everything and life will be worth living.
As with kindness, put in your all to develop lovingness not only for your fellow humans but everything else too. Every life form on this planet will be able to benefit from this trait of yours.
If you need help, these quotes can help you understand love from different perspectives.
22. Generosity
This personality trait lets you give freely and abundantly. It could be money, objects, or even emotions.
To be generous is to have an open heart in a positive manner.
With your generosity, you can make the world a better place.
Imagine if you can spread the joy that you feel upon receiving a gift. With generosity, you would be doing exactly that.
23. Authenticity
Authenticity is similar to honesty but the difference is that this revolves around the person. You are authentic if you are true to yourself.
It's one of the good character traits. It will give you the freedom to live your life with confidence. You will be truly at one with yourself. You will feel that you are settled in your life and will be able to overcome challenges easily.
Practice and grow this trait if you often feel trouble within yourself. If you have storms raging in your heart, authenticity might help you calm them down.
It is one of the harder traits to develop hence you would need to put in continuous efforts.
24. Encouraging
Under our list of positive traits in a person, we have encouragement which means to uplift others.
You can start building this trait by being appreciative of others and helping them realize their potential.
You would be helping others realize and even achieve their dreams.
Why do people love cheerleaders? They bring hope to the masses. You just have to be a cheerleader for others.
25. Enthusiasm
The personality trait of enthusiasm means to openly and expressively admire things in life.
If you are an enthusiastic person, people would love to be around you because you will serve as their light in the darkness.
To develop this trait, you would need to know and accept yourself as you are.
Luckily enough, if you master this trait, you would automatically help people around you. They would soak in your positivity and thrill for life. In a way, you would be giving them renewed energy in different situations.
26. Industriousness
People often confuse it with conscientiousness but there is a significant difference.
When you are industrious, you love to work hard. You will burn the midnight oil no matter what. The persistence you will show will be unparalleled by anything else.
An industrious person does not back down in the face of adversity. They keep plowing on no matter what.
Develop it and you would not find many things hard in life.
27. Emotional Stability
Emotional stability is the ability to maintain emotional control and remain unaffected by stress or external factors. It is the ability to regulate your emotions in a healthy way.
Once you can cultivate it, you will see your mental health soaring. It will even have a positive impact on your physical health.
Another benefit is that it is bound to strengthen your social bonds which will ultimately improve your mental health.
28. Curiosity
Curiosity is a strong desire to learn or know more about something.
Intellectual curiosity will bring you closer to self-actualization in life. The thirst for knowledge of any kind is curiosity.
If you are a curious cat, you will love solving complex problems. Curiosity would make you more receptive to new ideas. New avenues of the world and your mind will open up.
When new challenges will come, you will not shy away, instead, you will face them head-on.
29. Gratitude
It means to be thankful for anything in your life.
Why develop gratitude? Once you start appreciating what you do have in your life, you will soon become a positive person.
Gratitude can be towards objects, people, yourself, or the events that you are grateful for. There are so many things that you can be grateful for in life, you just need to look harder.
30. Adaptability
The last on our list of good personality traits is adaptability.
Adaptability essentially means the ability to adjust and eventually thrive in new situations.
Life throws a lot of curveballs so it is a good idea to learn how to adjust to every one of them.
Unpredictability is the only constant in life hence adaptability is the trait that you need urgently.
How to develop positive personality traits?
- Practice Self-Awareness: Understand your emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values, and goals. Self-awareness will allow you to make better decisions and take appropriate action.
- Develop an Optimistic Outlook: Optimism can help you see the bright side of life even in difficult situations. It can help you take action and take advantage of opportunities that come your way.
- Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Having a growth mindset means believing that you can learn and grow. It helps you focus on progress and improvement instead of perfection.
- Set Goals and Prioritize: Setting goals can help you focus on what is important to you and stay motivated. Prioritizing the tasks at hand can help you maintain a healthy balance between work and family life.
- Practice Self-Care: Taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally is important. Make sure to get enough rest, eat healthily, and take time off when needed.
- Develop a Positive Attitude: Having a positive attitude can make all the difference in achieving success. Remain open to learning and practice gratitude for what you have.
- Build Positive Relationships: Building strong relationships with family, friends, and colleagues can help you feel supported and connected.
- Be Flexible and Adaptable: It is important to remain flexible and open to changing situations. This will help you be better prepared for the future.
- Take Care of Your Finances: Financial stability can help you feel secure. Take steps to ensure you are managing your money in the most efficient way.
- Live with Purpose: Find meaning and purpose in your life by pursuing activities that are meaningful to you. This will help you feel more fulfilled and satisfied in life.
So What Do You Think
As you strive to develop and hone skills that are important to you, your confidence and self-esteem will grow, and you will find yourself being seen as a leader and source of motivation by those around you.
It's a journey that may take effort and perseverance, but the rewards you reap in the end will be well worth it.
You can take pride in knowing that you forged your own character through hard work and dedication.
Do you have any other particular traits that you think are essential? Let us know in the comments below and share the qualities you value most.
References
- Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2022, December 19). happiness. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/happiness
- Hopwood, C. J., Donnellan, M. B., Blonigen, D. M., Krueger, R. F., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., & Burt, S. A. (2011). Genetic and environmental influences on personality trait stability and growth during the transition to adulthood: a three-wave longitudinal study. Journal of personality and social psychology, 100(3), 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022409
- Dweck, C. S. (2008). Can Personality Be Changed? The Role of Beliefs in Personality and Change. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(6), 391–394. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00612.x
