STRONG CHARACTER - WHAT IS IT? CAN IT BE STRENGTHENED? - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The strong character (also known as a strong personality) is a characteristic of some people with high self - esteem and a strong sense of who they are and what they want in life. In psychology, this concept is related to greater happiness and better results in all areas of life.

Most people are not born with a strong character, but develop it throughout life based on what they learn and their circumstances. Therefore, several fields of study such as personality psychology are responsible for studying the characteristics of this type of people.

On the other hand, the strong personality is usually related to other concepts such as resilience, assertiveness or self-esteem. Although not all people with a strong character have the same characteristics, science tries to find those that are more common within this sector of the population.

What is strong character in psychology?

Having a strong character has to do mainly with the way in which a person moves through the world and deals with what happens to him.

To better define what a strong personality is, a list of characteristics that people who have it present are usually made. Here we will see some of the most common.

They know what they want and they go for it

Most people are lost and are not very clear about their goals. Others, although they do know what they want, do not dare to work to achieve it and, therefore, their goals never come true.

In contrast, strong-willed people not only know exactly what they want to achieve, they constantly work to get there.

This characteristic is one of those that causes people with a strong character to achieve better results in life than those who do not have it.

They are independent but know how to relate to others

People who have low self-esteem generally need external validation to feel good about themselves. Therefore, they seek to adapt to their reference group, changing their behavior and their opinions if what they do at a specific moment can lead to problems with others.

On the contrary, a person with a strong character is able to feel good about himself even if others have a low opinion of him.

This causes these types of people to tend to be quite independent; They are usually very careful about the people they let into their life, and they are not afraid to cut off a relationship that has become toxic.

But on the other hand, precisely the fact that they do not need others makes them very attractive to other people. In general, people with a strong character tend to be very good in social situations, and they tend to be friendly and fun.

They face their fears

All of us have a multitude of fears: of changes, of the unknown, of not knowing what is going to happen, of making mistakes…

However, while people with low self-esteem are paralyzed and do not act due to these fears, those with strong character are able to cope with them.

One of the characteristics that differentiates people with a strong character from the rest of the world is that they do not let their fears dominate their lives.

If they have decided that they want to achieve something, they will take action despite being terrified. This usually means that, as time goes by, your fears have less and less weight on your life.

They work on themselves

One of the most important characteristics of people with a strong character is that they know the need to improve day by day.

While people with low self-esteem stand by lamenting over their luck, a person with a strong character identifies their weak points and works on them.

This usually leads people with a strong character to work on a series of fundamental aspects in their lives: they tend to be athletes and eat healthy, they master a series of hobbies or hobbies, and in general they have great success in the work aspect of their lives.

Can character be strengthened?

Contrary to what it may seem at first, people with a strong character are not born with this as standard. On the contrary, due to a mixture of their personal experiences and their own learning and efforts, they develop it throughout their life.

Therefore, anyone who wants to develop strong character can do so with a little effort. Psychologists have identified a series of steps that can be taken to achieve a strong personality.

Discover your starting point

If you want to develop a strong personality, the first thing you have to achieve is to discover what you are like right now. In order to work on your weak points, you need to be able to identify them first.

This, which may seem obvious, is not so obvious: most people try to deceive themselves to protect their ego.

However, if you want to develop a strong character you have to be able to discover where you are failing and accept your weak points. Only in this way will you be able to start working on these.

Set a goal and start working on it

According to numerous studies, one of the fastest ways to improve self-esteem is to start working on a challenging goal that means something to us. Just taking action will make you feel so much better about yourself in record time.

The key to achieving this is setting a long-term goal for yourself, and then breaking it down into smaller actions so that you can take one every day.

In this way, in a short time you will be much closer to your goal than when you started, and your self-esteem will have been reinforced.

Forget about external validation

Why don't most people work to achieve what they want? In most cases they do it out of fear of what others will think of them.

However, it is impossible to develop a strong personality when we are concerned with external opinions.

Therefore, acting despite what others think of us will make us feel much better about ourselves, and it will quickly bring us closer to a strong personality.

References

1. "8 Signs You Have A Strong Personality That Might Scare Some People" in: Life Hack. Retrieved on: April 6, 2018 from Life Hack: lifehack.org.
2. "7 Signs You Have a Strong Personality" in: Power of Positivity. Retrieved on: April 6, 2018 from Power of Positivity: powerofpositivity.com.
3. "5 Signs You Have a Strong Personality That Intimidates Others!" in: David Wolfe. Retrieved on: April 6, 2018 from David Wolfe: davidwolfe.com.
4. "7 Signs You Have A Strong Personality And Stand Out From Else" in: Higher Perspectives. Retrieved on: April 6, 2018 from Higher Perspectives: higherperspectives.com.
5. "8 Ways Introverts Can Develop a Strong Personality" in: Live Bold And Bloom. Retrieved on: April 6, 2018 from Live Bold And Bloom: liveboldandbloom.com.