The fourth step is very special in the 12-step program. In previous steps, we have admitted our problems and handed our lives to the God of our understanding, our Higher Power. We are told to make “a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
Downloadable 4th Step Inventory Worksheets
Sober Speak provides two 4th step inventory worksheets for writing your moral inventory.
The Inventory
The fourth step, inventory worksheets, are comprehensive and must be completed without holding anything back. They are an honest look at ourselves; from this, we start to gain a new perspective on who we are and what we need to work on. They also allow us to explore all our character defects.
To be effective, an inventory process must be marked by rigorous honesty. We expose ourselves to ourselves with all our negative feelings and character flaws and do that fearlessly. This step aims to set us on the path to emotional sobriety. The other alternative is being a so-called “dry drunk,” which is someone sober but whose attitudes and actions remain those of their drinking past.
In the fifth step, we will become willing to have God take all of this away and ask for that in the sixth. In the eighth, we made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. When we finish the ninth, we have made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
This shows how fundamental the fourth step is to the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Closer Look at the Sober Speak 4th Step Worksheets (PDF)
Here is a brief fourth-step worksheet guide using the four charts in the Sober Speak fourth step worksheets. Each chart contains a brief introduction, an example and details the idea behind each column.
Resentment (Grudge List)
The Big Book says that resentment is the “number one” offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease. Resentment creates dangerous negative thoughts. They fester like a sore and erupt as anger, bitterness, or melancholy. They are more likely than anything else to cause a relapse.
What Resentment Do I Have?
Here we name a resentment. It does not have to be one word. It could be “Not having the final word.”
The next column is:
Who Or What Do I Resent?
This can be anything—a person, an organization, or a company. Think deeply about this. Some objects of resentment are surprising and very unpleasant to admit to, like resenting our children for forcing too much responsibility on us.
The next column is:
Why Do I Resent It?
There are so many reasons we can resent things; many will touch on the fears we deal with later.
The next column is:
What Effect Does The Resentment Have?
Resentments are expressed in attitudes and actions. Here we make the effect clear. Often, an effect will trigger a memory of harm that we can list. It is safe to say that these four charts do not exist in isolation but feed into each other.
Fear Inventory
The way fear affects us is described as follows:
This short word somehow touches on every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it
| What Do I Fear? | Why do I fear it? | What Effect Does It Have on Me? | How Does it Affect Others? |
| Being alone | Because it makes me feel as though I have no value. | I become morose and demand attention. | They try to avoid me which reinforces the loneliness. They become resentful. |
What do I fear?
As alcoholics, fear was a constant companion. Many AA members began their path to addiction by drinking to dispel fear. Here we list each fear we have.
Why Do I fear it?
This column states the underlying cause or causes of the fear.
The next column is:
What Effect Does It Have on Me?
What does this fear do to us? How do we react to it? How does it affect our daily living?
The next column is:
How Does it affect others?
We are not the only ones affected by our responses to things. The way we respond to our fears affects others as well. Here we state how others react to the effect it has on us. In the example, the reaction to the way the recovering addict used to become depressed ensured that others steered clear of them.
Harms
We are told that we must be willing to make amends where we have harmed, provided that we do not cause further harm. This part of the fourth step inventory will be used in the eighth step: “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.”
In the 9th, we make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when doing so would injure them or others. Dealing with these harms is vital to our spiritual growth and to achieving ongoing sobriety.
| What Harm Did I Do? | Who Did I Harm? | Why Did I Do This? | What Defect Made Me Do It? |
| Lied about my drinking | My family, My friends | I did this to “protect” myself. | Selfishness because I wanted to carry on drinking. Pride and not wanting to admit to a problem. |
What Harm Did I Do?
This may be the hardest part of this step. Here we list memories of people we have hurt.
The next column is:
Who Did I Harm?
This can range even to what we hurt if we injure an animal. Generally, though, this refers to people, and some people will appear on this list many times and often for different reasons.
The next column is:
Why Did I Do This?
Something spurs us to harm. This is the immediate fight-or-flight response we are noting here.
The next column is:
What Defect Made Me Do It?
This is the deeper level of “Why Did I Do This?” What triggered the negative feelings that caused us to harm another? Each harm stems in some way from negative thoughts.
Sexual Conduct
The Big Book tells us to evaluate our sexual activity in this way “We subjected each relation to this test – was it selfish or not?”
The sex conduct worksheet deals with matters that society considers too intimate to discuss. The Big Book responds by establishing that “we treat sex as we would any other problem.”
| With Whom? | What Happened? | How Did We Hurt If We Did? | Who Was Hurt? | What Defect(s) Affected This? |
| I don’t know her name. | One night stand after drinking. I bragged to my wife afterward. | By being vengeful | My sex partner and my wife. | Anger at my wife for commenting about my performance when I was drunk. Insecurity about being adequate |
With Whom?
Who else was involved in the encounter?
What Happened?
Not all the sordid parts, but an overview of how the event transpired.
The next column is:
How Did We Hurt If We Did?
Not all sexual encounters were necessarily bad, but if we did hurt someone, we need to state the harm we did.
The next column is:
Who Was Hurt?
List the names of the people who were harmed. This might include yourself more often than you realize.
The next column is:
What Defect(s) Affected This?
W/we didn’t harm people for no reason. So, what underlying flaw prompted this action?
Summing Up
This step can take a long time. Do not let that put you off. This personal inventory step can be challenging. Focus on the words of the 9th step promises: We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
With each step we take, we can recall this part of a program and a process working toward a spiritual awakening. Steps are related; the fourth step is one part of a sum of critical parts working to improve ourselves.
We will revisit this process of assessing how we wronged others daily for the rest of our lives. In this way, the fourth step inventory is like a training event that is harder than the final event. Do not treat it as a sprint and miss things. And do not treat it as a marathon because when it is long, we balk at continuing.
The Big Book puts what we have achieved by completing this step very plainly when it says: you have swallowed and digested some big chunks of truth about yourself. At the end of the day, though, we have already started to be honest with ourselves when, back at step one, we admitted we were powerless over alcohol. That was the scariest step of all.