Step 10 Worksheet With Questions - Your Daily Inventory Guide

What Step 10 Asks of You

Step 10 has two halves. The first is to keep looking at yourself honestly. The second is to own it quickly when you get something wrong, instead of letting it fester. The Big Book puts the job simply: “Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear” (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 84).

If those four words sound familiar, they should. They’re the same patterns you uncovered in your 4th step inventory. The difference is timing. Step 4 looked back over years. Step 10 looks at today.

Many people call Steps 10, 11 and 12 the maintenance steps. For a deeper look at why this step matters, read our guide to Step 10 and personal inventory.

Three Kinds of Step 10 Inventory

The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions describes a “spot-check inventory, taken at any time of the day,” a review “at day’s end” and the “annual or semiannual housecleanings” many members do (Step Ten, p. 89). Each one has its own job.

You don’t need all three on day one. Most people start with the nightly review, add the spot-check once the habit sticks and schedule a periodic review with their sponsor.

Step 10 Questions

These questions are built into the worksheet, with room to write. Several were refined from the original version of this worksheet, so long-time users will recognize them.

Spot-check questions

1. What just happened, and what am I feeling right now?
2. Am I hungry, angry, lonely or tired?
3. What’s my part in this, even if it’s small?
4. What would I do right now if I were acting on my values instead of my mood?
5. Do I need to admit I was wrong, or simply stay quiet for now?

Nightly inventory questions

1. Was I resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid today? Where, and what was my part?
2. Do I owe anyone an apology? When will I make it?
3. Is there something I’m holding on to that I should talk over with my sponsor?
4. What went well today, and who did I help or encourage?
5. What brought me peace today, and what took it away? What can I learn from that?
6. What will I do differently tomorrow?

Periodic review questions

1. How am I making time for reflection each day? What gets in the way?
2. Which defects keep showing up on my nightly inventories? What does that pattern tell me?
3. Are there people, places or old patterns that put my recovery at risk? How am I guarding against them?
4. Am I still working my program as hard as I was a year ago, or have I started coasting?
5. What does a balanced life look like for me now, and where is it slipping?
6. What did making amends teach me that I can use every day?

The Spot-Check Inventory – What to Do in the Moment

The spot-check is Step 10 in real time. It starts with an idea the 12&12 calls a spiritual axiom: “every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us” (Step Ten, p. 90).

That doesn’t mean the other person is always right. It means your peace of mind is your responsibility, and you can only change your own reaction.

Here’s a simple way to do it:

Pause. Before you reply, send the text or slam the door, stop. The 12&12 says it plainly: “Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen” (p. 91). Waiting even a few minutes can save a relationship.

Check your body. Ask whether you’re hungry, angry, lonely or tired. This familiar recovery check, often shortened to HALT, explains a surprising number of bad moments.

Find your part. What did you expect, demand or fear? Which defect is showing up right now? Our list of character defects and their opposites can help you name it, and the opposite asset tells you what to try instead.

Act on it. If you were wrong, say so soon. If you need to cool down, take a walk, pray or call someone in the program. Then let it go and get back to your day.

The Nightly Inventory (With an Example)

The Big Book describes the nightly review this way: “When we retire at night, we constructively review our day” (p. 86). It then lists a handful of questions, which the nightly section of the worksheet covers. The word to notice is constructively.

The same passage warns against drifting “into worry, remorse or morbid reflection.” The 12&12 describes casting up “a balance sheet, crediting ourselves with things well done” (Step Ten, p. 89). A nightly inventory that only lists failures turns into a punishment, and most people quit it within weeks. Always write down what went right, too.

Here’s what one fictional night’s inventory might look like:

Notice how short the answers are. The point isn’t to write an essay. It’s to catch the day’s loose ends before they turn into tomorrow’s resentments.

Promptly Admitting When You’re Wrong

The second half of the step is just as important as the inventory. The Big Book says that when these defects show up, “We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone” (p. 84).

Prompt amends are usually short. You don’t need a speech, just honesty. A few examples:

• “I was short with you this morning, and that wasn’t fair. I’m sorry.”
• “I told you the report was almost done. Honestly, I hadn’t started it. You’ll have it by Thursday.”
• “I interrupted you twice in that meeting. I’d like to hear the rest of what you were saying.”

The worksheet includes a prompt amends log so you can track what you’ve set right. If something on your nightly inventory is bigger than a quick apology, plan it the same way you did in the Step 9 worksheet, with your sponsor’s help.

Making Step 10 a Daily Habit

The Big Book describes recovery as “a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition” (p. 85). Step 10 is a big part of that maintenance. A few habits help it stick:

Tie it to something you already do. Keep the worksheet by your bed, or do your review right after brushing your teeth. A set time beats waiting until you feel like it.

Keep it short. A few honest lines count. Some members review their day in their heads on most nights and write it out a few times a week. Ask your sponsor what works for you.

Watch the patterns. The worksheet’s weekly tracker uses the same groups as our character defects list, alongside the opposite assets. After a few weeks, you’ll see which defects keep showing up and which assets are growing. That’s useful material for Step 6 and Step 7 work, too.

Pair it with Step 11. Many people follow their nightly inventory with a few minutes of prayer or quiet reflection. Our guide to Step 11 covers that next step.

The Tenth Step Promises

Right after its Step 10 directions, the Big Book describes what members call the Tenth Step Promises. The passage opens, “And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone” (p. 84), and it goes on to include alcohol itself. It describes sanity returning and the obsession losing its pull (pp. 84 to 85).

Notice where that passage sits. It comes after the instructions to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear, and to set things right quickly. Many members say that’s no accident: the peace comes from doing the daily work, not from waiting for it. Read the full passage in the Big Book’s “Into Action” chapter.

Step 10 in NA, Al-Anon and Other Fellowships

This worksheet works across fellowships. Narcotics Anonymous words the step “We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it” (NA, How It Works). Al-Anon’s Step Ten matches AA’s word for word.

In Al-Anon and other family programs, the nightly inventory often turns up control, worry and people-pleasing more than anything else. In Overeaters Anonymous, many members add a line about their food plan. Adjust the questions to fit your program and your Higher Power as you understand it, or no Higher Power language at all if that suits you better.

Step 10 Worksheet FAQs

Do I have to write my Step 10 inventory?

No. Many members review their day mentally, and AA’s literature doesn’t say Step 10 must be written. Writing helps, though, especially early on, because it’s harder to fool yourself on paper. Many people write nightly for a while, then switch to writing a few times a week once the habit is solid.

How is Step 10 different from Step 4?

Step 4 is a thorough look back over your whole life. Step 10 is a short, ongoing check on today. They use the same tools, especially looking for resentment, fear, selfishness and dishonesty, but Step 10 keeps the list from growing again.

What is the spiritual axiom in AA?

It’s a line from the 12&12’s Step Ten essay: “every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us” (p. 90). It doesn’t excuse other people’s behavior. It reminds us to look at our own reaction first, since that’s the only part we can change.

Is there a 10th step prayer?

There’s no single official one. Many members turn the Big Book’s Step 10 directions on page 84 into a prayer, asking for help to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear and to set things right quickly. Others use a simple intention instead. Use whatever wording fits your beliefs.

What is a rapid Tenth Step?

It’s an informal name some members use for a quick, in-the-moment version of the spot-check. You name what’s bothering you, find your part and decide what to do, often in under a minute. The spot-check page in the worksheet follows the same idea.

What if the same defect shows up every night?

That’s useful information, not failure. A repeating defect is exactly what Steps 6 and 7 are for. Bring the pattern to your sponsor, look up its opposite asset on the character defects list and pick one small way to practice that asset tomorrow.

How long should a nightly inventory take?

Usually a few minutes. If it’s taking much longer, you may be drifting into the “morbid reflection” the Big Book warns about. Keep the answers short, note what went well and save bigger issues for a call with your sponsor or your next periodic review.