What’s A Moral Compass? How To Find One?

I’m sure you must have heard of the term ‘moral compass’. We hear about it almost all the time especially when something horrible happens. Our morals are a set of values that are engraved into our consciousness.

These values help us differentiate between what’s the right thing to do and what’s the convenient thing to do. To be very honest here, most of us including me, despite knowing what’s morally correct, often end up choosing a convenient option.

Now, we need to understand that there is a huge difference between knowing what’s morally right and doing something that’s morally right. The number of people who do not have a moral compass is less. Most of us have a moral compass but do we use it?

We fail to use it because we are unaware of our moral compass. Today we are going to talk about what a moral compass is and how you can find your moral compass…

What Is Your Moral Compass?

A moral compass is a value-governed mental system where your conscience constantly advises you to do the right thing. Your moral compass helps you identify and choose the correct behavior rather than choosing what is convenient for you.

Your values, your ethics, your conscience, etc. are all inextricably linked to each other. In my understanding, your moral compass is an amalgamation of all these things together. Your moral compass doesn’t succumb to societal pressure. However, it is you who might choose to adhere to society rather than listen to your moral compass.

Even though the concept of a moral compass or human morality is supposed to be universal, each person has some unique sense of morality. Your moral considerations are most likely to be dependent on what your caregivers have fed you since childhood and the values you developed because of the experiences you’ve had.

Also Read: 8 Subtle Ways to Honor Yourself (And Why You Should)

How To Get A Moral Compass?

Well, a moral compass is not a commodity that you can just get from a place. Psychologist Jean Piaget pioneered literature about morality, ethical values, etc. Piaget was the one who claimed that a moral compass is developed in people over the years and in stages.

Let’s look at the stages of the development of a moral compass;

• Pre-Conventional Stage
• Punishments mold behaviors
• Rewards reinforced correct behaviors
• Conventional Stage
• Behaviors are now driven by a desire to gain approval
• Behaviors are in adherence to rules and regulation
• Post-Conventional Stage
• Individual Rights gain more importance than societal norms
• Decisions are now based on your perceptions and understanding of the world

Also read: 10 Ways to Find Out What is Important to You in Life

How To Find Your Moral Compass?

Each one of us has a moral compass, it’s just we fail to recognize our moral compass. Over the period from the day, we gained a sense of life, we have been developing a moral compass. It might be a little tricky but you can find your moral compass by doing just a few things. Want to know how to find your moral compass?

Here are 3 things you can do to find your moral compass;

• Self-reflection: it is one way you get to know a lot more about yourself a lot more than you can imagine. Self-reflection helps you recognize your values, your true thoughts about certain things, your beliefs, your identity, etc. All of these combined can help you find your moral compass.
• Widen your spectrum: this is another way you can explore your moral compass by widening your spectrum and learning more about the world around you. Increase your knowledge about different cultures and different concepts of morality different people have.
• Explore other people’s moral compass: a moral compass is not a fixed concept, it can and should change and evolve over time. Talk to people and learn more about other people’s morality so that your understanding of certain things becomes more defined and how you’d want to approach life.

That’s All Folks!

I hope you found this blog about how to find your moral compass helpful, informative and thought-provoking. Do share this blog with your friends and family so that we can all find our moral compass and make better decisions in life.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and stay safe.