Build Your Own Inner Guidance System

Identify the differences between your needs and those your family provides. List what you wish your parents or caregivers could give—support, advice, boundaries—and what you tend to provide for yourself.

Write your own ‘rules for living’—even if they differ from your parents’ values. What kind of guidance do you want to live by? Think about decisions, coping with stress, and handling mistakes.

Choose actions that affirm your independence. Act on one decision or value of your own, no matter how small (starting a new habit, accepting or refusing an invitation, setting a boundary). Notice how it feels to follow your own compass.