How do you define your value system?

[Rhoto]

Also called moral code, I'm curious how many of you define this aspect of your life. I'm trying to figure this out in myself, and am feeling overwhelmed with where to start.

So how do you define your values?

 

[MacAvoy]

I don't think this is something you sit down one day and make up. I think it something that your parents and significant people around you growing up instil in you. Then with your education & experience you tailor it to fit you. Hopefully you have strong convictions and stand by them no matter what they are.

You can't pull your beliefs out of the air, you have to wholeheartedly believe in them. At 22 though, this is the prime time for getting that real life education & experience to build your foundations upon though to develop your value system. However you should already have something there that was instilled upon you.

oh yea most importantly don't worry about conforming to society's standards. Do what is right for you. If you conform to something, then you likely don't fully believe in it and are less likely to be true to your morals.

 

[Snow Plowman]

Like above guy said it doesn't happen over night...

For me it's the following...
1. Monumental Experience - The most important thing I value, it's the experience of living life to the fullest. The emotions felt going through that experience and overall a collection of experiences and overall fun.

2. Food - I love food, I like tasting foods and any aspect that has to do with food.

3. Travel - I love traveling and exploring new places. The whole experience of being in a different place.

4. Extreme Sports - I love the whole experience when going through the activity.

5. Adventurous/Open Minded - Willing to try new things and is open to different things.

6. Creativity - Enjoying some type of art form that involves creation and expression of themselves.

7. Passion - Has a passion in life that they are constantly moving towards.

8. Sexually Liberated - 100% comfortable expressing there sexual desires and there not ashamed. They are comfortable with physical touch, both passionate and affectionate.

9. Female Beauty - The attractiveness of a female's face, body and her movements. They have to ooze female sexuality and dress sexy.

10. Interesting/Intriguing - Something about them is interesting or intriguing to me.

11. Spiritual/Self-Improvement - I enjoy doing spiritual practices and overall learning new skills to improve my life

12. Positivity - I value Positive, and dislike negativity

Thats all for now, I do have others but haven't really grasped it yet. These stuff I've been valuing and following for awhile now.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

A person's code of morality isn't necessarily their value system. I think that people who try to intermix the two are the ones who tend to be perceived as hypocrits. It's kinda like saying that the US Federal Government's purpose or "moral code" is to serve the people. It sounds good but how much truth is behind it looking at their system of values.

 

[Gubby]

I believe in only one thing: radical common sense.

I tried ways of defining myself but they were all too limiting.

We have built-in desires in our natures. We desire to live in a community, so we also have built-in morality, really. These are the two "sources".

Common sense builds upon the sources to decide what to do or how to respond to situations. We learn about our world through experience and communication and this is our map. The map works in terms of "if...then". If I do this, this will happen. Our values, connected via common sense to our sources, tell us whether the thing we predict wil happen is desireable.

The reason I call it RADICAL common sense is that I admit no haziness about it. Most people can't connect any of their decisions directly to their sources. For them, they learnt their values from others, and so they're so confused with conflicting good and bad advice that they're practically blind.

I decide that the input I get from others is so unreliable that I can only really trust my own experience to make a value system that connects with my sources.


ah, btw, I highly recommend stevepavlina.com for thoughts on these matters.

 

[Snow Plowman]

The reason I call it RADICAL common sense is that I admit no haziness about it. Most people can't connect any of their decisions directly to their sources. For them, they learnt their values from others, and so they're so confused with conflicting good and bad advice that they're practically blind.

I decide that the input I get from others is so unreliable that I can only really trust my own experience to make a value system that connects with my sources.

This is true... your values should come from you and your own experiences. The stuff I've stated above have come about over the past 10 months when I actually started finding "Who I am".

Everything I do now complements or revolves around my lifestyle that I see myself living. I think everyone should take some time out to really find out these things and live the life that they want to live.