i knew i forgot something! 

Sub AutoOpen()    ' Update all fields in the document
    Dim aStory As Range
    Dim aField As Field
    For Each aStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges
        For Each aField In aStory.Fields
            aField.Update
        Next aField
    Next aStory
    
    ' Process checkboxes based on custom properties
    CheckBoxesByTag
End Sub


Sub CheckBoxesByTag()
    Dim lngProp As Long
    Dim arrProperties() As String
    Dim varValue As Variant
    Dim oCC As ContentControl
    
    ' Define the names of the custom properties to check
    arrProperties = Split("DCR Type|Change Classification", "|")
    
    ' Loop through each property name in the array
    For lngProp = 0 To UBound(arrProperties)
        ' Get the value of the custom property
        varValue = ActiveDocument.CustomDocumentProperties(arrProperties(lngProp)).Value
        
        ' If the value is not empty, find the corresponding content control by tag and check it
        If Not IsEmpty(varValue) Then
            ' Get the specific content control associated with that value e.g., tag = value
            Set oCC = ActiveDocument.SelectContentControlsByTag(varValue).Item(1)
            oCC.LockContents = False
            oCC.Checked = True
            oCC.LockContents = True
        End If
    Next lngProp
lbl_Exit:
  Exit Sub
End Sub