Now that you have completed your self-assessment and interpreted the results of the Virtue Test, it is time to choose the one virtue that you will begin working on.
Virtue education, as we’ve said before, works best when you focus on one virtue at a time. There will be time to repeat the entire process and work on other virtues, but for now, just focus on one virtue.
As a result of your work n #2.3 – Understand your results, you should have identified one virtue (and perhaps a corresponding specific vice) to work on. Write this on a slip of paper. This will be your focus in the coming months.
Accountability within a community is an important dynamic in virtue education. Take some time to share the virtue you have selected with someone in your community.
This could be a friend, a spouse, a growth team, a discipleship group or a formation group in an educational setting. Simply let others know the virtue that you have decided to work on in the coming months. Ask for their support, and let them know that you are happy to be accountable in your commitment. If you are working on this plan in a group, it would be great to have a commitment meeting of some sort.
If are a Christian, you may also wish to write a prayer in which you commit to God to work on a particular virtue and ask for his power to enable you to grow in the months to come.
We are creatures of habit, but we easily forget things. To help yourself remain constant, create a visual reminder of your commitment to grow in virtue.
This can be whatever you want, so be creative. It can be a small card to put on your desk. It can be a new screensaver with an image that reminds you of the chosen virtue. It can be a bookmark in your Bible. It can be a weekly notification in your smartphone. It can be something that you choose to wear, like a bracelet with a knot or a T-Shirt that you get printed for yourself with a slogan that you make up. Anything is great. The important thing is that it works as a meaningful visual reminder for you.
When you are done, proceed to phase #3 to begin your habituation.