Ownership: Part 1 – Awareness: Authentic Living Exercises to Reconnect with Your Core Value

Technique: Values Compass – Step 1: Awareness

This authentic living exercise helps you assess your core values across multiple areas of your life, enabling you to make intentional choices that truly reflect who you are.

Before you continue, download the ROCK thru Values Compass worksheet to follow along. You’ll also use this same worksheet for steps 2 and 3 in the next two articles: Acceptance and Action.

1. Explore Your Life Landscape

The worksheet offers a broad perspective to view the whole landscape of your life, inspired by the values clarification model of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This article is about step 1, where you’ll review each of these areas: social relationships, intimate relationships, family relationships, community & environment, work, health, spirituality, leisure, personal growth, and parenting. Looking at these together provides a holistic view of how different aspects of your life connect—and where your values may be more or less well-defined.

2. Rate Importance

In the small box on the left of each category, rate how important this area is to you on a scale from 0–10:

• 0 – This area holds no importance to me right now.
• 3 – I know this matters somewhat, but I haven’t thought much about why.
• 5 – This area is moderately important to me; I value it but haven’t deeply defined how.
• 7 – This area is essential, and I can describe what it means to me.
• 10 – This area is highly important to me, and I am firmly committed to living by my values here.

3. Write a Values Statement

For each life area, reflect on what matters most to you. Use prompts like: What makes me feel proud here? What kind of person do I want to be in this space? Then, write 1–2 clear statements that express the values you want to live by in that area.

Examples:

• Work: “I value being a thoughtful leader who encourages creativity.”
• Relationships: “I value showing up with honesty and compassion.”

4. Rate Alignment

Use a 0–10 scale to assess how fully you’re living each value.

• 0 = I’m not living this value at all.
• 3 = I’ve thought about this value, but I’m rarely acting on it.
• 5 = My actions are somewhat aligned but inconsistently.
• 7 = I act on this value often, but not always intentionally.
• 10 = I’m fully embodying this value in my day-to-day life.

Be honest but kind—this isn’t about perfection. It’s about no-judgment awareness.

5. Reflect on Patterns

Look at your scores. Where are you most aligned? Which values feel neglected? This reflection creates a map of your current authentic-self living—highlighting both your strengths and areas that may need attention.