How to Do a Complete AA 4th Step: The Sponsor-Tested Guide with Worksheets

3 days ago
4 min read

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).

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.

The columns: how to actually format a 4th Step

The Big Book gives you four columns, in this 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 gives you the exact worksheet format sponsors nationwide use, with prompts under each column so you're not staring at blank space.

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.

Tools you'll actually use

The AAmazingtabs 4th Step Packet is a physical worksheet packet with all three inventory formats laid out with sponsor-tested prompts. It's the most-ordered product on the site because sponsors keep buying it in bulk for their sponsees.

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.