This is a great thread.
I can only speak for myself, I live by my own values and guidelines. I have often questioned where these self imposed values came from. My final answer is: My childhood, I clearly saw what not to do, then I had the responsibility to figure out what were the right things to do, and how the heck was I going to accomplish doing the right things?
Clearly that was the difficult part, I fell, I got back up, I fell, I got back up and continued to move forward, hopefully always in the right direction. I am still a work in progress, however, I think I basically have gotten it. Live and let live, don't sit in judgement of others, and first and foremost be true to yourself.
Just my thoughts!
Dolly