1. 01StartOrientation
  2. 02TTune In
  3. 03RReview
  4. 04AAsk
  5. 05IIdentify
  6. 06LLocate
  7. 07ViewFrom the End
Trailhead · 12-18 minutes

Orientation: Entering the Woods

Learn the four trail conditions and take a true snapshot of where you are today.

Put happiness in the corner.

Draw a happy face in the top-right corner of every page you write or journal on. When your eyes return to it, let it remind you of the direction: toward a life you can truly call happy.

1

Watch or readUse the video or its transcript.

2

ReflectWork through the short teaching below.

3

Put it to workComplete the private exercise and save your progress.

Video lesson

Orientation: Entering the Woods

2:05
Read the transcript

Before we start walking backward through old decisions, we need to know where we're standing now. That sounds obvious, but it's easy to skip. We can spend years telling the story of what happened without naming what life actually feels like today.

I use four trail conditions because they keep us from calling every difficult season a wrong turn. A hard climb is demanding, but the direction still feels meaningful. A detour is something we didn't choose and have to work around. A wrong turn is a pattern that repeatedly takes us away from our values, safety, or sense of self. A blocked trail has become unsafe or impossible and requires us to stop, leave, or get qualified help.

Those conditions matter because they call for different responses. A hard climb may need persistence and support. A detour may need patience and adaptation. A wrong turn needs reflection and a new decision. A blocked or dangerous trail needs safety, boundaries, and help. We shouldn't tell ourselves to keep climbing when the trail is harming us, and we shouldn't abandon every meaningful path because it becomes difficult.

You may not know which condition fits yet. That's all right. Choose the closest one and treat it as a working answer, not a verdict. The purpose of this first snapshot is to give you something true to compare against as you move through the course.

You'll also rate how happy the life you're walking feels right now. A number can't explain a life, but it can make a quiet truth harder to avoid. Don't choose the number you think you should have. Choose the one that feels true today.

Finally, decide what you want from this course. You may want clarity about one relationship, one job, one repeating pattern, or simply the direction of your life. Keep the focus small enough to work with. We're not solving your entire hike in one sitting. We're finding the next useful marker.

Before the exercise

What to notice before you write

These two notes turn the lesson into something you can use. Read them once, then keep them beside you while you work through the questions.

The first real look

The course begins in the present, not the past. Your Current Trail Snapshot records what life feels like before reflection starts changing the way you see it.

You don't have to explain everything yet. Name the area of life asking for attention, the condition that seems closest, and the reason you're willing to look now.

A working answer is enough

You may change your mind later about whether this is a hard climb, detour, wrong turn, or blocked trail. Changing the label isn't failure. It means you learned enough to see the terrain more clearly.

Put it to work

A Current Trail Snapshot and a clear intention for the course.

Answer for yourself, not for the version of the story that sounds best.

You will not be left with a blank page.

Nothing here is a test. Choose the closest answer you can, open Help me answer this whenever a question feels too broad, and use a starting point when you need words to begin. Every starter is yours to change or delete.

Which condition comes closest to your trail today?
Help me answer thisInstructions and examples
  1. Choose the answer that is closest, even if it is not exact.
  2. Describe today, not your whole life.
  3. If you cannot tell yet, “I am not sure” is a useful starting answer.
Help me answer thisInstructions and examples
  1. If several areas need attention, choose the one you think about most often.
  2. You are choosing a focus for this pass through the course, not declaring that every other area is fine.
  3. You can return later and use the course again with a different focus.
Help me answer thisInstructions and examples
  1. Start with what changed, repeated, or became harder to ignore.
  2. Name how it is affecting you or the part of life you chose.
  3. Finish with what you hope looking back may help you understand.
Try a starting point

Choose one to place it in your answer, then change any words so they are true for you.

How happy does the life you are walking feel today?
Help me answer thisInstructions and examples
  1. Use your first gut reaction; there is no correct number.
  2. Rate how much this life feels like your own, not how cheerful you feel today.
  3. You can change the number later as your view becomes clearer.
Not like my lifeDeeply my own

A mix of both

Help me answer thisInstructions and examples
  1. Name one thing you want to understand more clearly.
  2. Name one useful result you could carry into ordinary life.
  3. Keep the goal realistic; clarity and one real step are enough.
Try a starting point

Choose one to place it in your answer, then change any words so they are true for you.

Checkpoint: after this lesson, which way does this part of your life feel like it is moving?
Help me answer thisInstructions and examples
  1. Answer with your gut; ten seconds is enough.
  2. This is a compass reading, not a grade.
  3. Unsure is a real answer. Keep walking.
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