Step One Inventory

Task One: Consequences Inventory

For many addicts, addiction builds slowly over time, making it difficult to actually see how life has
changed. Consequences that even a casual outside observer could readily identify as severe have
gradually become the norm. Thus, the insanity of addiction looks perfectly ordinary to the addict. The
easiest way to break through the fog of addiction is to create a list of consequences related to the
behavior. In creating your consequences inventory you should list as many items as possible, breaking
the list down into the following categories:
• Emotional Consequences: These may include hopelessness, despair, guilt, shame, remorse,
depression, paranoia, anxiety, loss of self-esteem, loneliness, emotional exhaustion, fear of
going insane, feeling like two people (living a double-life), suicidal thoughts, homicidal
thoughts, fear of the future, and more.
• Physical Consequences: These may include ulcers, high blood pressure, weight loss, weight
gain, self-abuse (cutting, burning, etc.), unintentional injuries (falls, car wrecks, etc.), abuse by
others, trouble sleeping or waking up, physical exhaustion, sexually transmitted diseases,
attempted suicide, and more.
• Spiritual Consequences: These may include feeling disconnected, feeling abandoned, feeling
anger toward God, emptiness, loss of faith, loss of values and morals, loss of interest in the
wellbeing of others, and more.
• Family and Partnership Consequences: These may include relationship strife, loss of respect,
alienation, being disowned, threatened or actual loss of spouse or partner, threatened or actual
loss of parental rights, jeopardizing your family’s wellbeing, and more.
• Career and Educational Consequences: These may include decreased performance, demotion,
underemployment, loss of respect, poor grades or job reviews, not getting promoted, getting
fired or dismissed from school, losing a chance to work in one’s career of choice, and more.
• Other Consequences: These may include loss of interest in formerly enjoyable activities, lack of
self-care, loss of important friendships, loss of community standing, financial problems,
involvement in illegal activities, near arrests, arrests, legal issues, incarceration, and more.

Task Two: Powerlessness Inventory

Generate at least 30 examples of your powerlessness over your addictive behavior. In other words, list
examples of your inability to stop your behavior despite obvious consequences, such as: “I was warned
that if I showed up to work one more time smelling of alcohol that I would be fired, and I still stopped
off at the bar for a quick drink before work.” Be as explicit as you can, starting with early examples and
ending with the most recent.

Task Three: Unmanageability Inventory

Generate at least 30 examples that demonstrate how your life has become unmanageable. In other
words, list ways in which your addiction has created chaos and destruction in your life, such as: “I sold
my car for thousands less than it was worth because I was on a meth/sex bender and needed some quick
cash to pay for drugs and prostitutes.” Again, be as explicit as you can, starting with early examples
and ending with the most recent.
Task Four: Sharing Your Step One Inventories
Now comes the hard part – sharing your Step One inventories with your therapy group and/or your 12-
step support group. If you’re like most addicts, you are filled with guilt, shame, remorse, and self-
loathing. Plus, you’ve gotten very used to keeping secrets from your loved ones, your employer, and
the world at large. So opening up about the nature and extent of your behavior is anathema to your
entire existence. It is completely unnatural and you probably don’t want to do it. However, sharing your
history and consequences lifts the burden of compartmentalizing them and lugging them around in
secret. Letting go of your secrets frees you up to move forward with a different, better life. For many
people, the act of sharing Step One is the true start of recovery. Oftentimes recovering addicts state that
their life began to get better the moment they got honest with their support network by sharing Step
One.
Step 2: Creating a Higher Power

Most addicts, no matter their addiction (alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, shopping, etc.) find that they key
to lasting sobriety is working the twelve steps of recovery. As discussed in this space a few weeks ago,
step one explores the depth and consequences of the addict’s problem, helping him or her break
through the denial that justifies and supports his or her addiction. Step two is designed to prepare the
addict for the solution to come in steps three through twelve. In other words, step two introduces the
general nature of the long-term solution: that the addict will need to accept outside help.
Step two asks the addict: Was your behavior out of control, causing negative consequences, and, if so,
did you continue with it anyway? Did you try and fail to stop the behavior? Did those attempts and
failure happen on an ongoing basis? If so, the solution to the problem will involve something beyond
yourself, because your best thinking did not solve the problem.
Sometimes addicts struggle with the words “restore us to sanity,” which they think implies that they
were insane. Addicts rarely think they’re crazy. If someone else was engaging in the same behaviors as
them, sure, that person would be insane, but somehow they feel that they are not. Sometimes explaining
the “addict’s definition” of insanity helps with this: Insanity is doing the same things over and over but
expecting different results. In other words, the last hundred times you drank you couldn’t stop drinking
and you kept drinking until something bad happened (hangover, wreck, fight, arrest, etc.), but this time
you think you’ll have just one or two cocktails and toddle home unscathed. Yes, good luck with that.
Other addicts struggle with the words “power greater than ourselves,” interpreting that language to
mean “God” or “organized religion.” This is not what it means. Instead, these words typically refer to a
mix of things like 12-step recovery groups, supportive friends and family, therapy, and the like. For
some people, religion enters the mix; for others, not so much. In the end, the definition of “power
greater than ourselves” depends as much on the addict’s personal belief system as anything else. So this
step is less about God/religion/spirituality and more about admitting that help is needed. Step two is a
realization and admission by the addict that he or she cannot maintain sobriety on his or her own.
The easiest way to work step two is to actually begin accepting help. Sometimes this process starts with
a written job description for the addict’s higher power. What does the addict want from that entity (or
entities)? How can the addict learn to trust that higher power? What sort of interactive give and take
between the addict and his or her higher power should occur? Some addicts write this as a Help Wanted
ad so they know exactly what they are looking for.
Sought: A power greater than myself to help me stay sober. Must be readily available and care about
my health and wellbeing. Must understand the nature of my addiction. Must be nonjudgmental about
my past. Etc.
Once the addict’s higher power has been hired, the addict can begin the process of accepting help from
that power, be it a 12-step fellowship, a sponsor, a therapist, friends in recovery, or whatever.
Oftentimes this starts with simple accountability. For instance, the addict agrees to attend a recovery
meeting five times per week and check in with his or her sponsor on a daily basis, and the addict agrees
to immediately call someone anytime he or she has thoughts of relapse. Usually it takes very little time
for addicts to reach the conclusion that, indeed, accepting help from a power greater than themselves is
a very good idea, and once they do reach this conclusion, maintaining sobriety becomes much, much
easier.