A Year of VIA Character Strengths
Every day is the first day of a new year. Start today to focus on your strengths!
Hello 2026
It seems that 2026 is an interesting year of mixed emotions. We are all feeling overwhelmed and exhausted with media streams of polemic and negativity. In many ways, the world seems to be falling apart.
At the same time, there is a growing excitement at the prospect of change. It is a time where ideas are finding their time. Ideas that when formed, were definitely ahead of their time. Ideas like Sydney Banks' Three Principles, like Carol Sanford's First Ideas and Regenerative Business, and like Scott Barry Kaufman's Self Actualization - a reworking and expansion of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
All of these things are a part of a growing consensus that we are not broken. We are whole. We are perfectly imperfect with room to grow. There is less emphasis now on character defects and more focus on values and character strengths.
A Year to Focus on Strengths
I decided to dedicate 2 podcast episodes a month to the VIA (Values in Action) Character Strengths as a way to add to the conversation about this reframe for humanity.
You can also check out this post on Strengths!
Michele Jennae
Podcast also available on iHeartRadio, Amazon, and Apple
Every Day Genius: The Podcast - VIA Strengths Episodes
[77] Happy New Year! 3 Ways to Build Character Strengths
2026 is a great year to begin focusing on Character Strengths. Join me as I do a deep dive study into the 24 strengths. In this episode, we begin with an invitation to discover your top 5 "Signature" strengths with the free survey at Then I discuss 3 ways to build on your strengths.
[78] VIA Character Strength: Zest
Our first strength to explore this year is Zest, also known as Enthusiasm, and it is one of the seven "game-changer" strengths that can impact your life the most. It's worth working on even if it isn't one of your "Signature" strengths. I chose this as the first strength of the year as I believe it's important to get started on the right energetic foot!
[100] VIA Character Strength: Curiosity
100 Episodes STRONG! Doesn't that make you curious for the next 100?
Today, I introduce our 2nd Strength (of 24) for the year from the VIA Character Strengths. Curiosity is considered a game-changer strength, meaning that developing this one can affect your life in much more profound ways than some of the other strengths!
Curiosity tends to fade as we grow into adulthood, but that's NOT NATURAL! It is conditioned out of us, and we desperately need to recondition!!
[108] VIA Character Strength: Hope
Hope as a character strength. In today's episode, I read a thought-provoking quote by Vaclav Havel, and then I dive into the etymology of the Latin word for hope, sperare. I have tended to attribute it with waiting, according to my knowledge of the Spanish word esperar, which also means hope, but the daily usage is generally translated as "wait." Some surprising roots are revealed.
[122] Self- Regulation: A VIA Strength
The most cited study on self-regulation is about children set up in a room with the temptation of a marshmallow. Those who resisted the longest were found to be the most successful years later. What most articles and books that cite this study seem to imply is that either we have self-regulation or we don't. Today I explore this strength, and with the help of author Susan Fowler, we discover that there's more to self-regulation than mere temptation.
[136] Perseverance: A VIA Strength
publishing 03/01/2026
Stay tuned for the rest of the strengths to be published 2 per month for the rest of the year.
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