How To Develop a Personal Code of Ethics

Have you ever wondered how you can develop a personal code of ethics? Developing a personal code of ethics is a significant thing to do for yourself. Essentially, you put in writing the philosophies and ideas that are your nature. A personal code of ethics allows you to commit to these philosophies because you believe in them.

You can look at your code of ethics document each day to remind yourself of what you believe and to encourage yourself to abide by what you believe.

Now the real question is how you can develop your code of ethics. Developing is quite simple, but it takes time and requires thought on your part.

The first step is to take a close look at your life. Whom do you believe yourself to be? Ask yourself how a friend would respond if they were asked to describe you. Would someone say you are kind and compassionate? Put down all the traits that your relatives and friends may have said to your paper.

The second step is to put thought into what you believe. Ask yourself what your ethical beliefs are. These are the beliefs that shape your life by influencing your decision making. Questioning why you believe in them is not important at this point. Just ensure you write as many of your ethical belief as you can think of.

The next step is to look at how you relate to people. Think about how you deal with family members, friends, workmates, and even strangers. In addition, consider the various places where live, work and play. Is there anything related to ethics that has a negative impact on how you relate with people? List the changes you would like to make. This list should involve things as obvious as arguing with family to things of little importance such as gossip.

The next step is where you question why you believe in what you believe. This is an essential step as it helps you establish how important each of your belief is to you. The source of most beliefs is religion. Next to each belief, list the verses or teachings that each of your belief is based on.

 At this point you know who you are, your beliefs, and the reasons behind your beliefs. With all this information, you can now develop a personal code of ethics. This last step is not as hard as it might sound. However, it will take you time, as you have to decide what is important enough to include in your code of ethics, and what is not important enough to include.

A Personal Code of Ethics Has Three Parts:

The first section is the purpose. Here is where you write why you are writing the personal code of ethics. Are you writing it to adjust your behavior or is its purpose inspirational? Answering the question of the purpose of your code of ethics allows you to develop the philosophy behind it. The purpose, as well as the code of ethics itself, should match your needs and help you become a better human being in the society.

“I Will” is the second section of the personal code of ethics. Remember where you wrote whom you are based on what you believe you are and what other people perceive you to be? Go through that list and write down your aspirations. Write your ‘I Wills’ based on the traits you possess now and those you aspire to possess.

The third section includes the reasons for your beliefs and the rules you would like to follow when dealing with other people. You wrote all this information in the third and fourth steps of developing a personal code of ethics. This section is labeled ‘whys’. Remember to include the religious teaching your whys are based on using the guidance of various bible verses.

In conclusion, you are done with the first draft of your code of ethics. Therefore, you may now refine, improve and edit it to fit with the changes in your life. The most important part is to follow it. Why go through all the trouble of writing the code of ethics if you are not going to follow it?

Gregg Swanson is a peak performance consultant and human potential coach and has authored several books and numerous articles on peak performance. Gregg specializes in developing mental strength in individuals that desire to reach their full potential. He has developed a unique online training program “Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior.” You can also pick up your free eBook,” Why Change is So Hard” by going HERE.