“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped. I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying. I believe in you, just as you believed in me.” Lindsey Vonn, Feb 9, 2026. Vonn, an American Alpine Ski Racer, was competing at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics XXV, in the women’s downhill final on February 8th. It was nine days after tearing her ACL, and within 13 seconds of her run, she crashed and was airlifted by a helicopter to be rushed for medical treatment. She suffered multiple complex fractures and has a long recovery ahead.
It gives you pause. Great athletes are indeed models of bravery and perseverance. These are highly admirable qualities to cultivate. The VIA Institute of Character offers the Values in Action Survey where you can find your 24 strengths listed in order of how you express them.
Bravery and Perseverance are identified as character strengths that fall under the category of the virtue of Courage.
Bravery is acting on your convictions and beliefs despite objections and threats from others or fears and doubts from within. Perseverance is persisting towards your goal despite obstacles and disappointments. It has two paths: focused effort for the task at hand and dedication to see it through the entire duration. You value your goals and hold them up high. You push through.
How much do you marshal up your courage to push forward bravely and persevere? How much is too much? Can these strengths be overused? Do they need to be softened or moderated?
If the situation borders on being unhealthy, unwise or unrealistic, it might be time to summon up other strengths to reign this one in. What might those other strengths be? Think about what would work for you as you scan your top, middle, and lower strengths. Which one(s) do you need to muster up to help tone down the overworked one?
When strengths that come under the virtue of Courage are over-inflated and flying too high, it is incumbent upon us to temper these with others like Judgement and/or Perspective. Judgment is critical thinking, that makes us pause, weigh the evidence from all angles before making a decision. Perspective is stepping back to get a bigger, fuller 360° view of the situation, so that we are not mired in minutiae and can see the forest for the trees.
Judgment and Perspective are character strengths that fall under the category of the virtue of Wisdom.
Lo and behold, our cognitive strengths of Wisdom ‘that help us gather and use knowledge’ come to the aid of our emotional strengths of Courage ‘that help us exercise our will and face adversity’. This is a collaborative effort.
You do not have to be nervous about accelerating with gusto to fully leverage your stellar, top strengths. Know and trust yourself that when you are way over the speed limit, your inner wisdom will alert you, and you can access your other strengths that can help put on the brakes, slow your speed, or begin to steer you in a different direction.
Lean into your top strengths with conviction and passion. Fly high. At the same time, keep those other strengths ready and polished for you to quickly tow them up as and when the need arises. This is called tempering your over-used strengths. It is a continuous, enduring endeavor.