My code of values and ethics provides the basis for the distinction roof right and wrong aspects and has a significant bearing on my emotions and behavior. My values are mainly based on my family and education life that has shaped the growth of my fundamental values such as ambition, personal integrity, career success, love, faith, happiness, healthy living, and responsibility. Such qualities reflect the observation of rules, goals, and virtues that align with the underlying values in the community (Diener & Biswas, 2011). My parents have played a significant role in the development of my character because they taught me the importance of prioritizing my family when considering the morality of my behavior. They taught me to use the ends-based technique that involves evaluating the implications of my behavior on other family members. My mother has always shown incredible compassion for her family, as she has always worked to protect, provide, and correct my behavior hoping that I would become a responsible and healthy adult. Despite having attained high levels of career excellence, my mother never allowed work to obscure her family obligations. I remember that she chose to quite as a department manager to raise my younger sister until she was old enough to start attending school. She would also often request for leave from her workplace to take care of my father whenever he was ill.
I think that my mother has been a major source of inspiration because of the endless efforts trying to instill values and correct our behavior whenever we went rogue. She encouraged us to love and support each other, saying that it would help to create a robust, sustainable, and mutually beneficial union that would drive us to high levels of excellence, especially in the future, when she would not be available to direct us. My father has also been a major source of inspiration in the development of my values and ethics, because he always acted as a role model, encouraging and offering to support me whenever I was facing difficulties. My father is a smart and hardworking man that has always provided and protected his family, which made me develop great affection, respect, and admiration towards him. My life in the community has also been a crucial source of my values and ethics, because I learned about our community’s culture, such as the taboos, rules, values, and obligations. I have had the chance to meet and interact with numerous successful and famous individuals in the society that have inspired me to attain or even surpass their levels of excellence and achievements in life. Such individuals depicted numerous values and ethics that have guided their actions and contributed to their success in life. In the future, I hope to be a role model and a source of inspiration to other individuals that could be wishing to emulate my values and code of ethics.
The deontological theorists advocate for a rule-based approach that considers negative behaviors such as being disrespectful, dishonest, and egocentric morally unacceptable irrespective of the results (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2014). I consider that my mother’s efforts followed this perspective as she strove to install in us the traits of honesty, respect, and sense of duty towards others. My mother taught us to show love and respect to all including strangers and she demonstrated such values practically by helping other individuals, for instance, offering the elderly and individuals looking confused a ride to their destination, right after dropping us at school. She also showed love for other elements of nature such as sick birds and pets, where she would take care of them until they were strong to leave or would adopt them. She did not care much that such actions and generosity could be costly or consume her valuable time because her actions were moral based on her motive of helping others. I believe that I adopted her stern belief that all things and individuals have a unique and important purpose in life, which influences me to consider everyone as a valuable member of society. I have high regard for the liberties of others and human dignity, which helps me to view people as equal and not as objects for attaining my objectives.
On the other hand, I perceive that my father used the utilitarian approach for determining what is right, mainly because of the need for making ethical and culturally sensitive decisions when dealing with diverse clients daily. My father always depicted a commitment to progress in his background and career, which inspired me to pursue accomplishments, higher education, success, excellence, accomplishments, and wealth. Although he came from a poor background and experienced troubled childhood, he was not discouraged from pursuing his goals of becoming a civil engineer. Despite the difficulties that he experienced raising tuition and deferring studies, father remained focused, completed his studies, and become one of the renowned professionals in the field within the region. Such qualities influence me to persevere the various challenges that I encounter throughout my education and career life, and they give me hope because I believe that success is the result of personal determination. Utilitarianism is an adequate approach that would help to focus on the aspects that would be most beneficial to life in the future, which would help in attaining the levels of success and excellence desired (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2014). This approach would help me to consider the effects of my actions to determine whether they add value to my life as well as that of my family and community.
I have often consulted father when facing various ethical dilemmas and he advised me to consider the individual actor instead of the action, an approach that resembles the virtue-based perspective. This aspect means that I should consider the way my decisions would determine my character traits and the way such a person could be compared to my utopian self. I have been educated in reputable institutions that stressed various values such as honor, respect, excellence, and love of learning. We were required to participate in all the school activities including learning, sports, engaging with society, and serving the community members. I acquired numerous values that influence my virtue-based perspective towards my personal values and ethics, which ensures that I consider the wellbeing of the community, mainly when facing ethical dilemmas. I have also had an interesting experience throughout the college life where I joined a closely-knit community that upheld the values of honor, civility, and integrity. This aspect has helped me to develop various values such as that of honesty and hard work, where I strive to attain my ends through justifiable and ethical means. My college experiences have been a major source of enlightenment in life as I got to meet many fellow intellectuals that share similar life aspirations, unique perspectives, and contributions to the larger community. College was the place where I developed my full potential not only as a student through lectures and research but also as a competent career person that aspires to attain high levels of excellence in the near future. I also learned about the character traits of other students, their values, and ethical perspectives to ensure the observation of equality and cultural sensitivity throughout my life.
My community is made of individuals from different races and I had the opportunity of making culturally diverse friends. I had learned of their unique ways of life and tried to acquire facts about instead of dwelling on the stereotypes that had been admonished over the past decades. I observed the virtues of love for other students and facility members by working with them, helping those experiencing difficulties with their studies or other life issues, and observing a righteous life as well as all the necessary protocols. We formed various study teams focused on the growth of our intellectual capacity through research and course learning. This aspect helped us attain high levels of knowledge that has been a crucial driver of my success in the career. Our college often used the reward and punishment scheme to influence desirable behavior among students, where I witnessed some undergo suspension or even incarceration because of cheating in tests, stealing other people’s properties, and indulging in different forms of crime. I had been cautioned on the importance of having the right category of friends to excel in life. Such advice kept me from falling into temptations and being caught up on the receiving end of the law, which would be a colossal let down to my family and community. I aspire to be a prominent and respected member of the society that actively engages in initiatives for improving the lives of its people. This aspect means that I have to aspire for the personal, career, and financial growth to make a significant impact on the lives of my community by improving their standards of living. I also want to a source of pride and inspiration for my family especially my wife and child that will be considering us as role models just as I did with my parents. This way, I will live a satisfying life that I believe will have minimal regrets and trends of excellence.
In conclusion, I have undergone complex processes that have significantly shaped my personality, values, and ethical perspectives. I feel that I have a longer streak towards the attainment of self-actualization because of the numerous aspirations and goals that I have. I feel as though my life, happiness, and values are linked with those of my larger community, which influences me to work toward comprehensive transformation instead of focusing solely on personal development. I always visualize a different image of my future self with mature values, goals, aspirations, and critical thinking. Learning is a continuous process that lasts for a lifetime (Lickona, 2009), which means that I will increase my knowledge exponentially in the future, and conquer my goals. I will focus on the maintenance of love for my family, ambition, personal integrity, and the pursuit of excellence. This aspect will help me in the establishment of a robust character and firmly observing my values and ethical perspective even when facing different dilemmas.
References
Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2011). Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth. John Wiley & Sons.
MacKinnon, B., & Fiala, A. (2014). Ethics: Theory and contemporary issues. Nelson Education.
Lickona, T. (2009). Educating for character: How our schools can teach respect and responsibility. Bantam.