First and foremost, when you read your compass, don’t make the mistake of thinking that the direction the needle is pointing is the direction that you are pointing. The needle is always going to point Magnetic North regardless of what letter it’s pointing to at the moment. So, you need to turn the compass until the needle is actually pointing at the “N.” Now, you can see which direction you are really facing by looking at the direction now indicated at the top of the compass.