12 Guiding Principles for Living a Happy Healthy Life

Based on Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps

Adapted for Non-Alcoholics, Alcoholics/Addicts Welcome Too!

Tracy Morrow

12 Steps for Guaranteed Self Improvement

The 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous have been adopted for many recovery groups. It’s because they

work. They are so much more than a recovery model. They are a guideline to a new way of life.

These 12 Steps are an effective way to start a new path of health and wellness. They provide you with

structure and support for healing your life of outmoded and self-destructive patterns.

The 12 steps for alcoholics and addicts have been in existence since Bill and Dr. Bob first got together in the

mid 1930s and created Alcoholics Anonymous. The program is so successful that the court mandates

people with drinking or drug convictions to begin to attend meetings with the hope that they will pursue

proven recovery methods. Obviously the meetings focus on recovery, but they also teach you how to live

your life to its full potential.

Step 1

We admitted we were powerless over our ___________________ (Fill in the blank, are you powerless

over negative emotions, blaming others, procrastination?) - that our lives had become unmanageable.

This is the first step to freedom. It helps you

admit that something of your own choice is

keeping you from living the life you really hope to

live. Admitting this step is the first step in taking

complete responsibility for the choices you make

in your own life.

Repeat this step until you are quite certain that

you own up to YOUR problem. Being powerless

over other people, places or things doesn’t

count!

List what you have been or chosen to have been powerless over in your Life:

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Step 2

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity

The idea behind this step is that your best thinking got you to where you are today. So, something greater

than yourself may help you come up with some better ways of thinking and living! A greater power can be

anything at all. For some people it’s a religious icon, or spirituality without a specific religion. For other

people it’s that they finally get out of their sick thinking modes and start to listen to their “higher self”

Define what a power greater than yourself means to you. There is no right or wrong here. Even atheists

can find a greater power. It could be a self help group, meditation or even exercise practice. Start to get

acquainted, or re-acquainted to that greater power.

How do you define your Greater Power?-

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Step 3

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of our Greater Power as we Understood

our Greater Power

This one is pretty self explanatory. Turn your life and your will over to something other than whatever has

been keeping you stuck in whatever you admitted you were powerless over. What that might look like is

to spend a few minutes meditating or praying in the morning before getting into your day. Whatever

helps you connect with your Greater Power is fine. It could mean making a gratitude list, or going for a

walk.

Find out what works best for you. If you keep trying different things with an open mind, you will find

something that will be very effective.

What tools can you use to turn your will and your life over to your Greater Power?

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Step 4

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves

This step gives you time to clean out your “closet”. Get some paper and a pen for this. It’s always better

when hand written. You are going to look at past, present, and future fears, and resentments. Look at all

the things that you make you nervous, anxious, or afraid. Look at conduct you’ve had with people. What

have you done that’s caused harm to yourself or others and what could you have done differently?

Get it out, the good the bad and the ugly. Mistakes you’ve made, poor choices you regret, guilt, shame.

Anything at all that you carry with you today that is no longer serving you. You’re going to learn a lot

about your behaviors from this step. For example, maybe you’ll see that you have some bad habits that

were actually started as coping skills when you were younger, but they no longer serve you today.

Be gentle, but persistent with yourself until you feel that this searching and fearless moral inventory of

yourself is completed on the deepest levels. Skipping through it lightly will not serve your purpose.

Notes About Step 4

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Step 5

Admitted to God (Whatever you define your Greater Power to be), to ourselves and to another human

being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Okay, this one gets a little rougher. It is a humbling experience to talk about what you’ve been doing

wrong. It is a critical step though, don’t skip it. Choose that person you open up to carefully. Some will

talk with a non-judgmental best friend. Others may want to share with someone sworn to confidentiality,

like a Life Coach or spiritual counselor.

When you get your history out, it gets real. Best yet, it’s a key to freedom. The harder you think it would

be to tell to someone, the freer you will become for coming clean of it. You will be able to start with a

clean slate and that’ a powerful feeling to have.

This is an action step, it’s HUGE to take. You won’t regret it. If you have no one, contact me for one free

Skype session. It’s completely confidential, non-judgmental, and no asking you to buy or sign anything.

List of Possible People to Talk to:

___Tracy Morrow______________

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Step 6

Were entirely ready to have God (Whatever you define your Greater Power to be), remove all these

defects of character.

This step is for preparation and reflection. By this point you should know what your character defects are

and what is holding you back from reaching your full potential. Hopefully you’ll also know why you’ve had

these character defects. They offered some sort of reward. Was it to prove that you “weren’t enough”,

or that you got some sort of special attention, even though it kept you stuck in a life that you know you

want to live better?

Becoming willing to replace these character defects with other, healthier and more positive qualities is an

important step in discovering how you want to move forward with your life.

List character traits you are willing to let go of:

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Step 7

Humbly asked God (Whatever you define your Greater Power to be), to remove our shortcomings

By this time you have done a personal inventory, shared it with someone else, and became willing to

remove your shortcomings. With this step, asking your Greater Power to remove those shortcomings

includes doing the legwork to replace those shortcomings with better ways.

If you have played the victim, become empowered. If you’ve played small, start playing large. Push your

comfort zones. Write notes to yourself, put up reminders and stay focused on why you are now ready to

let go of your shortcomings. Focus on the rewards!

List character traits you will begin to add:

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Step 8

Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all

You should have a list of these people from your fourth step. Step 8 is about social housekeeping. In

order to live in the greatest peace with your fellow humans, this is a critical step to take. You don’t have to

do anything at this point, just get the list together.

Make sure you include yourself in this step.

People to Make Amends With:

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Step 9

Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or

others

Now that you have a list together of the people that you feel you need to make amends to, it’s time to

take steps to make those amends. This could mean a formal apology, paying back debts owed, doing

something nice for someone and not telling them you are the one that did it. Remember, you included

yourself on this list too.

Now for those people that you aren’t able to make direct amends to, perhaps because they are gone or it

would create more problems for them or others if you were to contact them, you can still do something to

make amends. Write a letter to them, burn it, and imagine the wind is carrying your message to them.

Make a donation to a cause in their name, or plant a tree in their name. This action will help you move on

and that is what this step is designed to help you do.

Amends to Make:

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Step 10

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it

You’ve come a long way and this step is about maintenance. Doing a quick check up on yourself on a daily basis will keep you building momentum. It’s not about getting down on yourself or beating yourself up if you slipped into old behaviors or made a poor choice. It’s about being honest about how you could have done better. Then do what you need to do to make it better. If you realize you could have done things better, decide what “better” looks like. Is it to set an intention for what you will do differently next time, is it to make amends? Whatever it is, do it and then move on. Tomorrow is a new day and all of these steps are to be lived, one day at a time. Daily Inventory Reflection Notes: _________________________________________________________________________________________

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Step 11

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God (Greater Power), praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.

This step is about spiritual maintenance. Continuing to seek a deeper connection with your Greater Power will strengthen many of the qualities you are working towards becoming successful in. This is something to do at the beginning of the day. Page 86, in the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous, it says: "In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. (Now some prayer.) Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while." Morning Meditation Notes: _________________________________________________________________________________________

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Step 12

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts (Persons), and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The most important part of working through these steps is you don’t keep them unless you give them away. Reach out to others. Become a living example of the benefits of working on steps that set you free from you past and give you a guideline for your future. In recovery you will find others that will tell you how to serve others in recovery. If you are working the steps as a non-alcoholic/non-addict this could look like doing some volunteer work, helping out whenever you see someone needs help, without telling them you are the one that helped. Ask some of your friends to work through the steps with you. The support in unity is the biggest factor in creating long lasting changes. 12 Step Ideas: _________________________________________________________________________________________

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Resources for Recovery

Alcoholics Anonymous - http://www.aa.org/

Al-Anon - http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/

Narcotics Anonymous - http://www.na.org/

Gamblers Anonymous - http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/index.php

Porn Anonymous - http://www.pornaddictsanonymous.org/

Overeaters Anonymous - http://www.oa.org/

Resources for Step 12 Work

United Way - http://liveunited.org/

Volunteers of America - http://www.voa.org/

HandsOn Network - http://www.handsonnetwork.org/

Remember, if you need help working the fifth step, contact me for a free skype meeting. If you have any other

questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. These steps are life saving steps for some, and a powerful program for

helping others live better lives.