Awareness, Willingness, Connection, and now Compassion! Step number 4 is Compassion, and as we have said it starts with compassion towards yourself. When we are led by compassion, we can open ourselves up to our so-called, "weakness", "imperfections" and "areas of improvement." When we have compassion, we begin to see our humanity not as a weakness, but as an asset. Compassion for ourselves will lead to compassion for others and opportunities will open up to forgive. Forgiveness will set you free to change.