HOW TO WORK ITThe Five Moves
Work top to bottom. Tap a move to open it - and in the compass below, tap any title to jump back here.
1 · The Pull
Collect the words that tug at something in you. Use the word bank in the compass below, or your own. Don't overthink it - if it tugs, it goes in.
For example: “Family. Honesty. Faith. Steadiness. Laughter. Presence.”
2 · Shortlist
Keep the ones that tug hardest - up to eight. Crossing a word off is not betraying it. You're finding the loudest ones for this season.
For example: “I kept eight. Letting 'adventure' go stung - but it isn't steering this season.”
3 · Mine - or a Should?
The fork. Some words on your list are yours. Some were handed to you - by family, by guilt, by the job itself. You don't have to dig inside to tell them apart. Check the outside. Your body: yours settles or lifts you; a should makes you brace. The words around it: “should, have to, supposed to, always” is a rule talking. The camera test: a value can be filmed in a small act today; an outcome can't.
For example: “'Being the strong one' - I brace when I say it. That's a should. 'Presence' settles me. Mine.”
4 · Your Top 5
From the words that are truly yours, lock five. These are your compass points - not forever, for this season.
For example: “Faith. Family. Steadiness. Honesty. Laughter.”
5 · Point One at This Week
Pick one of your five and give it one small act this week. Small enough to keep - the kept promise is the engine. That's how self-trust comes back.
For example: “Steadiness: ten minutes on the porch together after supper, phones inside.”
See a worked example first
Two shoulds went back where they came from. Five words stayed - and one of them got its Friday night. That's the whole tool.
YOUR TURNYour Values Compass
Type into each box. Tap a title to see what it means. Your “Say it” line builds at the bottom as you write.
Tap any that tug, then add your own:
The fork: recognising, not digging. Sort one wrong? Re-sort it any week - no cost.
Can't tell which it is?
You don't have to look inward. Check the outside signals.
Your body. Say the word out loud. Yours settles or lifts you. A should makes you brace - jaw, shoulders, gut.
The words around it. “Should, have to, supposed to, always.” That's a rule talking, not a value.
The camera test. Could someone film you living it today, even for one minute? “Presence” films fine - sitting together, phone inside. “Get him better” can't be filmed today. That's an outcome, not a direction.
This looks like / that looks like:
Mine: “Laughter - it still lifts me, even in this.” A should: “Being the strong one - I brace every time.”
And sorting one wrong isn't a fail - words can change piles any week.
Not forever. For this season.
No buttons working? Just take a screenshot - your filled-in compass is the deliverable.
SHARE ITMake a Shareable Card
Turn your compass into an image for Skool, Instagram, or your phone wallpaper. Pick a shape, then create it.
What you value didn't vanish when life got heavy. God planted those words in you, and He holds them steady while everything else moves. The testing isn't taking your five away - it's proving them.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."
James 1:2-3Choosing what matters lights up the valuing part of your brain - a region behind your forehead that weighs what's worth doing and who you are. When your five are clear, the next choice gets lighter, because the weighing is already done.
A general mechanism, not a guarantee. This supports good care; it doesn't replace it.