How to Do a Complete AA 4th Step: The Sponsor-Tested Guide with Worksheets
Updated: 2 days ago
Step 4 is the step that stops more people than any other. It's the moment the program stops being ideas and starts being work — pen, paper, and years of wreckage to examine. This is a complete sponsor-tested guide to doing a thorough 4th Step, from the AAmazingtabs and AABluebook teams (physical tools and the AI-powered recovery app, respectively, for AA members).
4th Step Inventory Workbook — $12.99 A printable digital download for Steps 4, 6, 8 & 9: resentment, fear and sex conduct worksheets in the Big Book's column format. Get the 4th Step Workbook →
What Step 4 actually is
From the Big Book: "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." That's it. That's the whole instruction. The Big Book then spends the next chapter ("How It Works," pages 63-71) laying out exactly how to do it — with columns, categories, and worked examples of Bill W.'s own inventory.
If you haven't fully worked Step 3 yet, don't start Step 4. Step 3 is the surrender that makes Step 4 possible. There's a full guide to Step 3 on aabluebook.com if you need to revisit it.
Why most people procrastinate on Step 4
Three reasons. First, it feels overwhelming — how do you inventory decades of life? Second, it surfaces genuine pain — you're going to have to look at real damage. Third, most people don't have a structure — they open a notebook, stare at a blank page, and quit. This guide fixes the third problem. Your sponsor helps with the first two.
Getting started: a simple routine
Think of the inventory as clearing out a closet that has been full for years: everything comes out, you look at each thing honestly, and you decide what stays and what goes. It isn't a punishment or a shame exercise.
Set aside quiet, dedicated time. Don't squeeze it in between meetings; many people find mornings work best.
Start with resentments. List every person, institution or idea you resent before you fill in any columns. No filtering: if it bothers you, it goes on the list.
Then work across the columns one resentment at a time, and do the fears and sex conduct inventories after that.
The columns: how to actually format a 4th Step
The Big Book's resentment chart has three columns, and the "my part" review that follows works as a fourth. In order:
Column 1: I'm resentful at [name of person, institution, or principle]
Column 2: The cause — what they did that hurt me
Column 3: Affects my [self-esteem / security / ambition / personal or sexual relationships / pocketbook / etc.]
Column 4: My part in it — where was I selfish, dishonest, self-seeking, or afraid?
The whole game is in Column 4. Columns 1-3 come naturally — you already know who you're mad at. Column 4 is where the honest work happens. The AAmazingtabs 4th Step Packet lays out the Big Book's columns as a worksheet, with prompts under each column so you're not staring at blank space.
Why a worksheet beats a blank notebook
Scribbling notes in a journal isn't the same as working a structured inventory. The Big Book's format is intentional, and a worksheet built on it helps you:
Stay on track instead of drifting into long storytelling
Never skip the "my part" column, the most important one
Bring something organized and complete to your sponsor for Step 5
See your character defects show up as patterns across many resentments
The three inventories you're actually doing
Step 4 isn't just one list — it's three separate inventories, done in order:
Resentments (page 65 of the Big Book) — every person, institution, or principle you resent, with the four-column analysis
Fears (page 68) — every fear you can identify, honestly examined
Sex conduct (page 68-71) — every relationship where you were selfish, dishonest, or inconsiderate, and the harm caused
The sequence matters. Resentments surface the pattern of your character defects. Fears surface the engine underneath the resentments. Sex conduct surfaces where your defects hit other people hardest. For a deeper explanation of each, see the AABluebook complete 4th Step inventory guide.
Resentments: the big one
The Big Book calls resentment "the number one offender" — because more alcoholics have relapsed over unresolved resentment than any other single character defect. There's a full essay on this at aabluebook.com/post/resentment-in-aa-why-the-big-book-calls-it-the-number-one-offender, but the summary: every resentment on your list needs Column 4 completed honestly, no matter how justified you feel. Especially when you feel justified.
Common resentment prompts to get the list started: family (parents, siblings, spouse, ex-spouse, in-laws, children), work (bosses, coworkers, clients), institutions (schools, employers, government, religion), yourself (this is not optional — you go on the list too), and God/higher power (yes, even if that feels wrong — the Big Book explicitly names this).
Fears: the honest look
Fear is often what's underneath resentment. If someone hurt you and it landed hard, chances are it hit a fear — of being unlovable, of being abandoned, of being not-enough. The fear inventory asks: what am I actually afraid of? And: where did self-reliance stop being enough?
The Big Book language on fear is dense ("grave emotional and mental disorders" etc.) — this is where the AABluebook 1930s dictionary earns its keep. Every archaic word Bill W. used to describe fear gets decoded into modern English, which makes the fear inventory dramatically more usable for modern readers.
Sex conduct: the honesty test
This is the hardest column for most people. The Big Book asks: where were we selfish, dishonest, or inconsiderate? Whom did we hurt? Did we unjustifiably arouse jealousy, suspicion, or bitterness? These are hard questions. Answer them honestly. Your sponsor won't judge — they've been there — and the honest inventory is what makes Step 5 (sharing this with another person) actually transformative.
4th Step Inventory Workbook — $12.99 Resentment, fear and sex conduct worksheets with prompts under every column, plus pages for Steps 6, 8 and 9. Print it for personal use as many times as you need. See the 4th Step Workbook →
Tools you'll actually use
The AAmazingtabs 4th Step Packet is a 33-page printable digital workbook with all three inventories laid out in the Big Book's column format, plus pages for Steps 6, 8 and 9.
Alongside the packet, the AABluebook app has a 24/7 AI Recovery Coach that can walk you through prompts when you get stuck on Column 4 at 2 AM — trained specifically on AA literature and step work, not generic wellness content. Free trial at https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6754885451&code=3FREE (iOS, 3 months) or code FREEMONTHFL on Android.
How long the 4th Step actually takes
Sponsors will tell you anywhere from a weekend to a year. The honest range: a first pass usually takes 4-8 weeks of honest work if you're spending an hour or two a week on it. Some people rush and do it in a weekend and then have to redo it later. Some people take a year and never finish. The sweet spot is deliberate but not perfectionist — you're going to work Steps 6 and 7 on the defects that surface, so you don't need to catch everything on the first pass.
What to do when Step 4 is done
Do NOT sit on it. The Big Book is explicit: as soon as the inventory is done, you go to Step 5 — sharing it with another human being. Most people share with their sponsor. Some share with a clergy member, therapist, or trusted friend. The point is: you don't heal in isolation from the inventory. The healing happens in the telling.
How Step 4 feeds Steps 5, 6, 8 and 9
You don't start over for each Step. The same inventory carries you forward: you share it in Step 5, the defects it reveals become your Step 6 and 7 work, and the people on your lists help you build your Step 8 list and plan your Step 9 amends with your sponsor. That's why the workbook includes pages for Steps 6, 8 and 9 alongside the Step 4 inventory.
4th Step inventory worksheet: frequently asked questions
What are the columns on a 4th Step inventory worksheet?
The Big Book's resentment inventory (page 65) uses three columns: who or what you resent, the cause, and what it affects (self-esteem, security, ambitions, personal or sexual relations, pocketbook). It then asks where you were selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened, which many sponsors write as a fourth column: my part.
What is a fear inventory worksheet?
It is the second part of Step 4 (Big Book page 68). You list your fears, then ask of each one why you have it and where relying on yourself alone let you down. Many people find the fears sit underneath the resentments on their first list.
How do I fill out a resentment worksheet?
Write the full list of names first, without filtering. Then take one resentment at a time across the columns: the cause, what it affects, and your part. Finish every "my part" column, even when you feel justified, and bring the finished inventory to your sponsor for Step 5.
Is there a printable 4th Step worksheet?
Yes. Our 4th Step Inventory Workbook ($12.99) is a 33-page printable PDF for Steps 4, 6, 8 and 9, with resentment, fear and sex conduct worksheets in the Big Book's column format. You can also draw the columns in a notebook yourself; what matters is doing the work.
Get the tools
4th Step Inventory Workbook — $12.99 Printable digital download, 33 pages, for Steps 4, 6, 8 & 9. Built on the Big Book's own instructions. Get the 4th Step Workbook →
AABluebook app (with AI Recovery Coach and full Big Book with 1930s dictionary): https://www.aabluebook.com
Free trials: iOS 1 month — https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6754885451&code=FREEMONTHFL
Android 1 month — https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aabluebook.android (enter code FREEMONTHFL after installing)
Built by a family with 30+ years of sobriety. The 4th Step tools we wished we'd had.
Take the Big Book with you: get the AAmazingtabs app. App Store · Google Play
AAmazingtabs is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
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