"Once we're over about 12 years old, we're seldom encouraged to be nice." Thus begins a video about ten virtues that can help make us more successful not only in our work, but also in our lives.

From age 13 on, the video below stipulates, we're expected to devote our energies to school, work, and generally creating a "successful life" for ourselves.

But what, exactly, does a successful life look like? Is it built around amassing the more traditional trappings of wealth, power, and status? Or could it mean living a life where such virtues as resilience, self-awareness, empathy, and politeness take center stage?

Become a Better Person
Created by The School of Life, a London-based initiative (with a global reach) "devoted to developing emotional intelligence through the help of culture," the video "How to Become a Better Person" makes a case for shaping your life around the latter.

The list of ten virtues begins with resilience: "This is the art of keeping going even when things are looking dark, of accepting reversals as normal, of refusing to frighten others with one's own fears, and of remembering that human nature is, in the end, reassuringly tough."

Walking through each of the ten virtues — inlcuding empathy, politeness, and humor, among others — The School of Life highlights character traits that are as universal as they are timeless and commendable. And while, in today's modern world, these traits might not often get their due, the video below demonstrates why they should.

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