12 Steps Lessons

One step at a time, in plain words

Twelve short classes — one per step — in plain language, then what the work actually looks like this week. Read each one or press play and listen. Nothing here replaces your home group, a sponsor or a counselor; it is here for the hours between meetings.

Start here·Step 1·6 min

Step 1 — Powerless Over Addictions, Compulsive Behaviors and Denial

We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, and that our lives had become unmanageable. The first honest sentence is the door out.

Read or listen

Work these with a guide. The steps are best completed alongside someone who has already walked them — ideally a man with a similar background, a sponsor, a mentor, or a trusted friend in recovery. These lessons are a companion, not a substitute for that relationship.

Steps 2 through 12

Each step builds on the one before it. Pick the next step you are ready for.

Step 2 — A Power Greater Than Ourselves Can Restore Us

We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Hope grows out of evidence, and the evidence is usually another man.

6 min 3

Step 3 — Turn Our Lives and Wills Over to God

We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God. A decision is something you can make before your feelings catch up.

6 min 4

Step 4 — A Searching and Fearless Moral Inventory

We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Count what is actually on the shelf without screaming at the shelves.

6 min 5

Step 5 — Admit the Exact Nature of Our Wrongs

We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. The third person on the list is the one that heals.

6 min 6

Step 6 — Ready to Have God Remove Defects of Character

We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. The step about the habits you secretly still like.

6 min 7

Step 7 — Humbly Ask Him to Remove Shortcomings

We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. What changes when you stop trying to white-knuckle yourself into a better man.

6 min 8

Step 8 — List Those We Harmed and Become Willing

We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Paper first. Doors later.

6 min 9

Step 9 — Make Direct Amends Wherever Possible

We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Repair, not apology.

6 min 10

Step 10 — Continue Inventory and Promptly Admit Wrong

We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. The step that keeps the first nine from being wasted.

6 min 11

Step 11 — Improve Conscious Contact with God

We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God. A plain method for men who think they are bad at this.

6 min 12

Step 12 — Carry the Message and Practice the Principles

Having had a spiritual awakening, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Give it away to keep it.

6 min

Working the steps with someone beats working them alone.

Ask for a mentor or find a local meeting on the meeting schedule. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.