The following is an excerpt from the chapter “12 Step Quick Guide”.

The 12 Steps as presented in The Big Book

Page and paragraph in this book in brackets [page:paragraph]  and from The Big Book in parentheses  (page:paragraph)

Step 1: “We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery.”  [48:2]  (30:2)

Step 2: “It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself.”  [55:2] (47:2)

Step 3: “God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!”  [61:4] (63:2)

Step 4: “Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four.” [69:3] (64:1)
(Inventory definition is “a detailed LIST”)

Step 5: “…when completed, will mean that we have admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our defects.” [73:1] (72:1)

Step 6: “Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable?” [85:2] (76:1)

Step 7: “My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.” [87:1] (76:2)

Step 8: “We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory.”  [89:2] (76:3)

Step 9: “Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves.”  [91:1] (76:3)

Step 10: “This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along.”  [99:2] (84:2)

Step 11: “Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation.” (more)

[102:1] (85:3) (Big Book Page 85, Paragraph 3 Through Big Book Page 87, Paragraph 3)

Step 12: “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill.”[105:1] (89:1)

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