Life Compass

For most of us, it’s important to have a combination of activities that give us a sense of purpose, meet our need for closeness, community and social stimulation, that make us feel that we’re performing and accomplishing things, to take care of our physical and mental needs, to have fun and to do things just because we want to.

This can be divided into four broad areas:

• Study/work
• Relationships
• Leisure
• Health

In order to clarify what’s important to you, and to check whether you really live your life based on what you value, you can take a moment and try to formulate fundamental values that you want to guide you in your everyday life.

1. Values

Start by selecting a few values for each area that describe what you value and want to strive for. If it feels difficult to get started, here’s a list of suggestions that can give some inspiration. Try to start from what you really care about, and not what others consider desirable. Here are a few questions that will help you formulate your values. 

• What is important to you?
• How do you want to live your life?
• What do you want to stand for?
• How do you want to be in your relationships?
• What do you want to get out of each area?

Example:

You can choose the same or different values for each area of life.

Study/work - “Learning new things"
Relationships - "Giving love"
Leisure - "Being creative"
Health - "Taking care of my needs"

Suggestions of values and approaches: 

Openness - Honesty - Daring - Acceptance - Tolerance - Humility - Being present - Responsiveness - Learning new things - Developing - Being loyal - Forgiving - Showing appreciation - Giving love - Being caring - Taking responsibility - Being hard-working - Independence - Community - Closeness - Having fun - Living climate-smart - Feeling meaning - Commitment - Helping others - Taking care of my needs - Being true to myself - Having self-compassion - Showing empathy - Being able to let go - Living according to my beliefs - Making a difference - Excelling - Achieving something - Being creative - Healthy lifestyle - Challenging myself - Having variety

2. Reflecting

Once you have chosen one or more values for each area, the next step is to reflect on what your life is like right now. 

• How much do you live according to your values? 
• How has this gone in the last few weeks?

If it turns out that one or more of the areas in the Life Compass don’t get much attention in your everyday life, you can set goals that involve you doing something active that expresses your value. Plan something specific that you can do in the next week.

Here, it’s also good to think about what is stopping you from living the way you want.

• Lack of time? 
• Lack of planning?
• Difficulties in going your own way?
• Negative thoughts?

Prepare yourself for how you can do what you want despite these barriers. To make a change, you need to be prepared to encounter the barriers that exist and still take concrete steps toward your goals. Remember to take small steps at a time.  

Choose a value, set a goal and plan an active action to do next week. Also, consider barriers and how you can tackle them. Click on "Problem solving" to learn more about how you can manage different barriers. 

Example:

I feel the need for more closeness to others and openness in my life.

Barriers: I’m afraid of being rejected and not being important to others. I also find it difficult to be open about how I feel and am doing when I spend time with others.

Goal: Be more with people I like and share feelings with others even though it feels strange.

3. Evaluation

Evaluate how it turned out and if you want to do something different. Remind yourself that it’s not the immediate result that’s most important, but the activity itself. Through it, you take responsibility for what you feel you need. It increases the chance that life will contain more of what is important to you.  Don’t give up because you sometimes encounter barriers.