After taking a deep look at our past, present, and future, we may have seen patterns of destructive behaviors. Now we will look through our Ritual III questions to find any possible core unhealthy character traits that have led us to those deststructive behaviors. Remember, this is not about creating guilt or shame, it is about identifying core issues to better address them for self-growth. When we embark on self-improvement, it helps to know specifically where to start. Below is a list of examples to help you identify unhealthy character traits to answer the following questions: Don't limit yourself to only the above listed character traits. Take the time and effort to think for yourself and use your own words to answer when needed.

1. [+] Look only at the Beliefs under the Resentments section. If there is a dysfunctional belief related to that resentment, write down in one or two words what you would describe as an unhealthy character trait involved with that dysfunctional belief or action that led to this resentment. Make a list of these traits for each resentment if possible. It is likely this process will have a lot of repetition.


2. [+] Continue the list with the same process but this time only looking at the Beliefs under the Harmful Actions section.


3. [+] Continue the list with the same process but this time only looking at the Distorted Core Beliefs under the Fears section.


4. [+] Now that you have completed this list, look for the unhealthy character traits that have been written more than once or traits that can be put under the same umbrella. This creates a list of your major unhealthy character traits.
   
   Try to avoid looking at this list with judgment. All of these traits served a purpose at one point in your life. Have compassion towards yourself. These are survival mechanisms that have become old and outdated. If you want to replace them with new ones, you need to start to let go of any shame or guilt you have around possessing them. Now we look at our list to see what new goal character traits we can build to counter our unhealthy ones. We seek to grow and improve ourselves, not amputate parts of who we are.


5. [+] Next to each unhealthy character trait write down a positive character trait you can work towards that would combat the unhealthy one. Look over the Character Assets section of Ritual III for inspiration. You may find traits that you know you already possess that can be nurtured for self-growth. For example, if one of your unhealthy character traits is "Selfish" you could write down "Compassion and Empathy" next to it.


6. [+] Reflect on new behaviors and actions that you can take to help facilitate these new healthy character traits.

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