What is a Step 10 Inventory and Why You Might Need One (Even If You’re Not in AA)
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Step 10 in Plain English
In the 12-step world, Step 10 reads: “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
Sounds simple enough. But most of us don’t naturally pause and ask ourselves, “Where did I show up small today?” or “Was I honest? Loving? Surrendered?”
Step 10 is a daily gut-check. It’s where spirituality meets personal responsibility. Not in a shame-based way—but in a way that helps you stay clear. With yourself. With others. With God.
Daily vs. Periodic Inventory
You don’t have to do a full-on soul excavation every night. A daily Step 10 inventory is quick, reflective, and powerful. Think: 5–10 minutes to review your actions, motives, emotional reactions, and spiritual alignment. A periodic inventory (like Step 4) goes deeper and is done less often—but if you skip the daily stuff, things pile up fast.
Step 10 keeps the spiritual drain unclogged.
How Spiritual Inventory Promotes Emotional Sobriety
Getting sober is one thing. Staying emotionally sober? That’s another story. Emotional sobriety means you’re not just white-knuckling your behavior—you’re actively untangling the why behind it.
A daily spiritual inventory helps you:
- Catch resentment and fear before they metastasize
- Notice patterns in ego, control, or avoidance
- Own your impact without self-pity and shame
- Practice humility without codependency
- Stay spiritually awake, not just behaviorally compliant
It’s not punishment. It’s soul hygiene.
Why It Matters (Even If You’re Not in AA)
You don’t need to be in a program to benefit from Step 10. If you’re in therapy, deconstructing your faith, navigating a breakup, parenting, grieving, or simply trying to not spiritually flatline—you need something that anchors you. That calls you back into alignment.
Step 10 isn’t just for people in recovery. It’s for anyone who wants to live awake, not asleep.
It’s a practice of maturity. A spiritual pause button. A flashlight in the fog.
And when done daily? It changes your nervous system, your relationships, and your connection to God.
Journal Prompts for Step 10 Reflection
Here are a few examples from our Spiritual Inventory Journal:
- Where did fear lead my decisions today?
- Who was I resentful at and what is my part?
- Who do I need to make amends to or speak truthfully with?
- What do I need to surrender to move forward in peace?
- What character defects showed up and what could I have done instead?
You don’t have to answer them all every night. Just start. The practice is the point.
Ready to Try It?
We built a journal just for this kind of work.
It’s part recovery tool, part soul map, part daily sanity check.
If you’re ready to dig deeper, stay spiritually grounded, and actually feel your life instead of reacting to it…