Working Step Four in Narcotics Anonymous 

This is NA Fellowship-approved literature. 

Copyright © 1988 by 

Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 

All rights reserved. 

This is a model of what a thorough Fourth Step inventory might be. While we strive toward thoroughness, 

we may find, especially in our first attempt, that we are not able to answer all of these questions. In fact, 

many of us feel overwhelmed, but we do not let this deter us from being as thorough as we can possibly be. 

Working Step Four in Narcotics Anonymous 

We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 

This guide is intended to be used as an aid to writing a Fourth Step inventory. It is extremely 

important that we work with an NA sponsor. If you dont have one yet, this is a good time to 

find one who can help guide you through these steps. After reading through this guide on your 

own, we suggest you read it again with your sponsor before beginning the Fourth Step. It is also 

very helpful to use other NA literature and step meetings to gain more information about the 

Fourth Step. There are many methods of writing inventories, and no one way is right for 

everyone. This guide represents the experiences, strengths, and hopes of many addicts who 

have found recovery in Narcotics Anonymous. Regardless of the method, our Fourth Step will 

be successful if we are searching and fearless. 

Searching and fearless 

Step Four calls on us to be searching and fearless. We are asked to look carefully at ourselves 

and to get beneath the self-deceptions we have used up to now to hide the truth from ourselves. 

We search within, as if entering a dark house with a single candle to guide us. We move ahead, 

despite our fear or resistance to the unknown. We need to be willing to illuminate every corner 

of every room of our minds as if our lives depend on it, because they do. 

What we are searching for here is a complete and total picture of ourselves. We have found 

that this requires honestyhonesty to examine our behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motives, 

regardless of how unimportant they may appear. Our self-honesty is most important since it 

will lead us to discover how our disease has affected our lives. We have operated with a 

distorted self-image, never fully looking at the whole picture all at once. Now, possibly for the 

first time in our lives, we will begin to see ourselves as we really are, rather than as we 

imagined or fantasized. The more accurate and complete this picture is, the more freedom we 

will gain. 

At this point we need to emphasize that being thorough is not the same as being perfect. 

There arent any perfect Fourth Steps. We do the best we can to be as thorough as possible. With 

diligence and perseverance, we write as honestly as we can. Expecting perfection from 

ourselves can sometimes be a way of putting off writing our Fourth Step. We may also have 

heard people say If you dont do a thorough inventory, youll use again. But here we have to 

go back to our Third Step and trust God without any reservations. If we focus on our fear that 

our inventory wont be good enough, or worry about what our sponsor will say when we share 

it, we may never get going. This wont be the last inventory we write. Its not necessary to write 

a best-selling novel; its only necessary to make an honest beginning and be as thorough as we 

can be. One of the things we learned in the Third Step was to trust God. Now we can be fearless 

and write the truth. This Fourth Step is a freeing process as well as a healing one. We put our 

faith in a loving God and trust that whatever we write will be exactly what were supposed to 

write if we are truly searching and fearless. 

Moral inventory 

In Step Four we are asked to take a moral inventory. When we first heard the word moral, some 

of us had misconceptions of what that meant, while others had no understanding at all. Morals 

are simply values, the principles that we choose to live by today in our recovery. It is not the 

purpose of this guide to define morality nor to define a set of morals that others should live by. 

We recognize that each of us possesses our own internal values. We may choose to define good 

as that which has the power to bring out the best in us and affirm our recovery and bad as that 

which has the power to bring out the worst in us and works against our recovery. 

Looking at our feelings can be very helpful here too. In writing our Fourth Step, we will need 

to take a look not only at what we did, but also at how we felt. Our morals may have been 

vague or undefined, but even in our active addiction we had them. In situations where we felt 

bad, or felt that something was wrong, it was most likely because we compromised our morals 

or were unable to uphold them. 

When we came to that understanding, we saw how the steps fit together. We began to see the 

exact nature of our wrongs. That meant more than just the wrong things we did. It meant 

looking beneath the wrong thing we did, to the nature of that wrong. For example, if we stole 

money from our parents to buy drugs, that was a wrong. What was the nature of that wrong? 

The nature of that wrong was our self-centeredness, our fear, our dishonesty, and unkindness. 

We were self-centered in that we wanted what we wanted at another persons expense. We 

were fearful that we wouldnt get what we wanted. We were dishonest in that we took money 

without the other persons knowledge or permission. We were unkind in that we did something 

that hurt another human being. 

Of ourselves 

It is important to remember that this is our inventory. It is not a place to list the faults or 

wrongdoings of others. When we look at our lives in this way, we see that the nature of our 

wrongs, our character defects, are the characteristics in our lives that are in opposition to 

spiritual principles. Our inventory, then, is a process of discovering how our character defects 

bring not only us, but also others, pain and discomfort and how our new life, founded on the 

Twelve Steps, is one that can bring us serenity, comfort, and joy. Out of the Fourth Step we 

discover those things that get in our way and those things that work for us. 

General guidelines 

When we are ready to begin, we ask God to help us to be searching and fearless in this 

inventory. Some of us even write a prayer at the beginning of our inventory. The important 

point is that we sit down and start writing. As feelings surface we must be willing to face them 

and keep writing. Some of them may be uncomfortable or disturbing, but no matter what 

happens, we know that God is with us. We can feel good about the fact that we are taking 

positive action for our recovery. We then ask a loving God to help us, and try to remember that 

what we write is between ourselves and the God of our own understanding. 

The following outline provides a structure for examining ourselves. It contains the basic 

elements that we use in our inventory. To keep from getting bogged down, stay in touch with 

your sponsor. Some helpful suggestions are: 

1. 

Follow the outline and take one section at a time; 

2. 

Leave a wide margin so you have room to make notes of any thoughts that pop into your 

head as you write; 

3. 

Dont erase or cross out anything and dont edit your inventory. 

Throughout this guide, there are examples of the kinds of questions we ask ourselves. Some 

of these questions may not seem to apply to you. They are included to assist you in your 

inventory. Write each question on your paper as you go. Whenever the answer is a simple 

yes, list examples. In each situation, try to see where you were wrong, what your motives 

were, and what your part was. 

In looking at our behavior before, during and after active addiction, patterns begin to emerge. 

The purpose of a searching and fearless moral inventory is to get at the truth, to take a hard 

look at reality. What we are attempting to do here in the Fourth Step is not only to see where we 

were wrong, but to understand what our part was and how we might be perpetuating those 

patterns. It is this discovery and identification that allows us to be freed of our defects in the 

subsequent steps. Although it may sometimes be embarrassing or even painful to be honest 

with ourselves about our wrongs and character defects, simply writing this information down 

cannot hurt us. 

First three steps review. By now you have taken the first three steps with your sponsor. These 

provide the necessary preparation and foundation for making a searching and fearless moral 

inventory of ourselves. Many of us have found the process of writing out the first three steps to 

be valuable. Now, before writing your inventory, go back and review your first three steps. At 

this point we are reminded that it is only through a Higher Power, not our own power, that we 

can proceed fearlessly. Before we begin writing, we take a few moments of silence to ask the 

God of our understanding for the courage to be fearless and thorough. Now we are ready to 

begin writing our Fourth Step. 

I. 

Resentments. Our resentments caused us discomfort. We relived unpleasant past 

experiences again and again in our minds. We were angry about things that happened and 

kept a mental grudge list. We regretted the clever things we had not said and planned 

retaliation that may or may not have taken place. We were obsessed with the past and the 

future, and therefore cheated ourselves of the present. We need to write about these 

resentments now to see the part we played in forming them. 

A. 

List the people, organizations, and concepts you resent. Most of us start with our 

childhood, but any order will work as long as it is complete. Include all the people 

(parents, mates, friends, enemies, ourselves, etc.); the organizations and institutions 

(jails, police, hospitals, schools, etc.); and the concepts (religions, politics, prejudice, 

social customs, God, etc.) at whom you are angry. 

B. 

List the cause or causes of each resentment. With each resentment we examine the 

reasons for our anger and how it affected us. These are some of the questions we ask 

ourselves to help us identify our feelings: 

Were my feelings hurt because of pride? 

Was my safety or security threatened in any way? 

Was a personal or sexual relationship hurt or threatened? 

Did my ambition put me in conflict with others? 

C. 

With each resentment, we try to see where we were wrong and what part we played in the 

situation. How did we react to our feelings in each situation? We must be as honest 

as we can and discover which character defects played a part in our actions. These 

are some of the questions we ask ourselves: 

Where did greed or a need for power underlie my actions? 

To what extremes did I carry my resentments? 

In what ways did I manipulate others, and why? 

How did I behave selfishly? 

Did I think that somehow life owed me? 

How did my expectations of others cause trouble? 

How did pride and ego show themselves in this situation? 

How did fear motivate me? 

D. 

Situations in which we are sure we are right require close observation and discussion with 

our sponsor. Answering these questions, and others as they apply to us, helps us to 

identify our character defects. We must do so honestly, ignoring nothing. Where 

others have wronged us, we must realize that we need to stop expecting perfection 

from them. There is no room in our recovery for self-righteousness. If we are ever to 

have peace of mind, we must learn to accept others as they are. 

II. 

Relationships. This is going to include a lot more than just a list of sexual relationships. 

We have had problems in all of our relationships. Many of our character defects come 

into play and prevent us from having healthy or successful relationships. 

A. 

List your personal relationships. This includes your relationships with co-workers, 

friends, relatives, family members, neighbors, etc. Examine the positive and negative 

aspects of each one, being honest about your assets and liabilities. Avoid spending 

time on the wrongs others have done. We focus on our mistakes, and concern 

ourselves with areas where self-centeredness and other character defects seemed to 

prevail. We must look within and honestly appraise our motives. We examine how 

our character defects are present in our relationships, for example, intolerance. At 

times we probably refused to allow others the privilege of voicing or even having an 

opinion, and this attitude caused indifference, hostility, and other problems. We had 

a need, generated by fear, to always be right. We were unnecessarily critical of 

others; yet when constructive criticism was directed towards us, we were less than 

receptive. These are some of the questions we ask ourselves: 

When was I intolerant of others? 

When did I feel superior to others? 

How did I use and abuse other people? 

In what ways did I try to make other people feel worthless? 

Another example is self-pity. It is one of the ways we manipulate others for our 

benefit. Indulging in self-pity was asking others to change or to bow to our demands; 

it was looking for a way to avoid responsibility. We ask ourselves: 

How did I use self-pity to get what I wanted? 

Did I lie or stretch the truth? If so, why? 

In what ways did I make others feel guilty? 

Where did self-will and self-centeredness play a part in my relationships? 

When I didnt get what I wanted, did I become fearful and act jealously or 

dishonestly? 

Was I so consumed with self that I had very little perspective or understanding of 

others? 

B. 

List your sexual relationships. This may include deep relationships or short affairs, 

spouses, lovers, or others. We answer questions such as these about each 

relationship: 

Did I manipulate and lie to meet my own needs? 

Did I care about the other person? 

How did I demonstrate that? 

Did I feel better or less worthy than my partner? 

How did my dependencies cause me to compromise myself? 

How often did I say yes when I wanted to say no? And, why? 

Did I end up feeling worthless, used, or abused? 

Did I think that sex would fix me and make everything all right? 

Did my relationships end in pain and unhappiness for myself or others? 

What kind of a partner did I choose to be with in my disease? Is that still true 

today? 

Was sex something traded or sold? 

Where was I dishonest in my relationships? 

When did I meet my own sexual needs at someone elses expense? 

Some of us had sexual experiences that did not fall under the category of 

relationships. We need to write about these experiences and our feelings, 

especially where shame or guilt were involved. 

C. 

With each relationship you listed in Sections A and B, summarize how it affected you and try 

to identify what character defects were apparent. Many of our character defects damaged 

our personal relationships. As addicts, our emotions often run to extremespast the 

point of what is appropriate. Writing our inventory helps us to see where our 

addiction played an important role in our dealings with people, places, and things. 

III. 

Self-obsession and self-centeredness. A part of Step Four is looking at how we have been 

obsessed with self. Many of our feelings, and even character defects, stem from our total 

self-centeredness. We are like little kids who never grew up. Throughout our active 

addiction, and maybe in our clean time, too, we continually have focused on our wants, 

our needs, our desires. We wanted everything for nothing. We werent willing to work 

for what we wanted or pay the price. We have found that we placed extraordinary 

demands on everybody and everything. We wanted people, places, and things to 

somehow make us happy, content, and whole. Now, in recovery, we find that only God 

can accomplish this task. 

Throughout our Fourth Step, we have been looking at situations to see what was 

underlying our actions. It is also helpful to focus on the feelings. It is important that we 

learn to identify the feelings we may be having. We may want to look words up in the 

dictionary so that we begin to know what they mean. It is easy to say I felt bad about 

that but we need to probe deeper than that and understand what the feelings are. The 

following is a list of words that may help you focus on feelings: 

guilt shame intolerance self-pity 

resentment anger depression frustration 

confusion loneliness anxiety betrayal 

hopelessness failure fear denial 

arrogance inadequacy 

A. 

Examine each of the feelings listed above as well as other feelings you have identified in your 

inventory. Of those you experience frequently, list several situations where they 

commonly arise. Examine the circumstances of each situation. List the reasons why 

you felt the way you did. Ask yourself: 

How did this feeling affect me? 

Was this feeling appropriate for the situation? 

Was my behavior appropriate for the situation? 

What did it remind me of? 

B. 

With each feeling and situation, try to see where self-obsession and self-centeredness played a 

part. Ask: 

In this situation, was I feeling or acting self-righteous? 

Did I behave selfishly? 

What were my expectations for myself or others? 

Did I insist on having things my way or become enraged when I didnt get my 

way? 

How did I react to my feelings? 

IV. 

Shame and guilt. One of the most frequent rationalizations we find for not working the 

Fourth Step is our deep, dark secrets. These situations that have caused us so much 

shame and guilt, the things weve never really taken a look at, are often some of the 

hardest to write about and share. Unwillingness to face these situations can be a 

stumbling block in our recovery. In dealing with shame and guilt we must remember 

that there are many things that occurred due to our disease. It is important to realize that 

we are not responsible for many of the things we did in our addiction, although we are 

responsible for our recovery. 

Up to this point in your writing, you may have already uncovered some feelings of 

shame. It is very important to continue exploring those situations because these feelings 

are at the bottom of so many of our actions. For this reason, we encourage you to write as 

honestly as you can. We write about situations that make us feel guilty. We also write 

about situations where we really werent at fault. Sometimes we have accepted guilt for 

situations that were not our responsibility. It is important to look carefully here too so 

that we can identify the feelings and see how they may still be affecting us today. 

A. 

It is important for us to identify our feelings and our character defects in these instances, too. 

Ask yourself: 

What are the things I have never told anybody? 

What was it that made me keep this a secret? 

Were there any experiences (for instance, sexual, financial, family or work related) 

that created feelings of shame, guilt, or confusion? 

Was I the giver or receiver of physical abuse? 

Where did fear and self-centeredness come into play? 

Why did I hold onto the guilt and shame? 

How did I react when things didnt go the way I expected? 

Did I blame myself for another persons wrong behavior? 

How did my feelings of shame and guilt affect other aspects of my life? 

V. 

Times we felt victimized. Throughout our lives we may have seen ourselves as victims. 

We may have felt this way for any number of reasons. For example, as children some of 

us were abused by adults in physical, mental, and/or emotional ways. We were victims 

in the true sense of the word because we had no power to protect ourselves from being 

harmed. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, many of us developed a habit of constantly 

reacting to life and viewing our world as if we were forever a victim. Wanting to be 

helpless, wanting to be rescued, and not taking responsibility for ourselves are definite 

aspects of our disease. We blamed and resented others for all our troubles, unable to see 

our own part in our own problems. It is a cycle that is self-perpetuating. We find 

ourselves again and again in situations where we become victims or victimizers. 

In reviewing our pasts we have found that we need to look at where we may have 

been the initiators or receivers of abusive relationships. We suffer from a self-destructive 

disease that magnifies these kinds of problems. Our desire for recovery may make this 

issue especially important for us to inventory in some detail. Honestly appraising these 

situations gives us a new perspective and helps us see how we have set ourselves up as 

victims. Through this process, we have the opportunity to find freedom from our victim 

thinking and our victim reactions. 

A. 

We answer questions such as these: 

Did I feel victimized in any of the situations Ive already written about (or some I 

havent written about)? 

What expectations did I have of my parents? 

Do I still carry those expectations with me today? 

What was my behavior as a child when I didnt get my way? 

How do I react today when I dont get my way? 

How do I act like a victim today? 

What are the feelings I have in these situations? 

What is the relationship between my self-esteem and these situations? 

What is my responsibility for continuing this pattern? 

VI. 

Fear. Having taken a close look at our self-centeredness, resentments, and relationships, 

we see that fear, doubt, and insecurity have been at the core of much of our behavior. We 

wanted what we wanted when we wanted it, and we were terrified at the thought that 

we might not get it. The bottom line was that we were afraid we wouldnt be taken care 

of. Many of our defects and their manifestations were just our own inept attempts to 

meet our own needs and take care of ourselves. If we look closely, we find that we are 

afraid of almost everything. Our fears have kept us from doing the things we wanted to 

do and becoming the people we wanted to be. 

A. 

We list all of our fears. Some of these include: fear of the unknown, fear of pain, fear of 

rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of responsibility, fear of commitment, fear of 

growing up, and fear of success and/or failure. We feared we would never have 

enough of the things we wanted or that we would lose what we had. 

B. 

We answer these questions about our fears: 

Why do I have this fear? 

How does this fear paralyze me or keep me from changing? 

Am I afraid because I feel I have only myself to depend on? 

How do I react to this fear? 

How does this fear manifest itself in my life today? 

VII. 

Assets. We have examined our actions, our feelings, and uncovered the exact nature of 

our wrongs. Now it is time to look at our assets. 

Keep in mind that examining ourselves should include character assets as well as 

liabilities. In looking at our behaviors, it is important to see how we want to act 

differently. Our assets provide us with ideals to strive toward. We gain humility when 

we honestly acknowledge that we are human beings, neither perfectly good nor perfectly 

bad. We are made up of assets and liabilities, and there is always room for improvement. 

If we cannot find any good points about ourselves, we need to look a little harder. If we 

are searching, we will surely uncover some assets. The following list may help you to 

identify some assets in yourself: 

willingness faith honesty open-mindedness 

God-awareness patience acceptance positive action 

courage sharing generosity trust 

kindness caring forgiveness tolerance 

being clean love gratitude 

These assets show us that we are not bad people as we originally believed, and give us 

the courage and strength to go on. We are clean, we have the willingness to change and 

grow, and we are taking positive actions for our recovery. We have placed our will and 

our lives in the care of a Power greater than ourselves and are learning to live by a new 

set of principles. By continuing on with the steps, those attitudes and behaviors which 

have not worked for us or for our peace of mind are modified. We are trying to build 

happy lives in recovery and Step Four is a clear-cut attempt at that. 

A. 

Write one paragraph about each of the assets listed in section VII above. Try to think of an 

incident in your past or present when these assets were apparent. List examples of 

where you practice these assets in your life today. It is just as important in this 

section as in the others not to leave anything out. If you find it difficult to identify a 

particular asset in yourself, we suggest you talk it over with your sponsor. We may 

also talk with other members we respect and in our home groups. 

The ability to identify the good in others is a character asset in itself. It is now time 

to use this ability for our own benefit; to be as kind to ourselves as we would be to 

others. We find that many assets start out simply as potentials and become assets 

only through practice. 

What are the results that come from making a searching and fearless moral inventory of 

ourselves? Our Fourth Step helps rid us of our delusions and false perceptions of life, reality, 

and ourselves. The fantasy world that we lived in during active addiction fades as we begin to 

see and accept life as it is. 

Now that we have uncovered our secrets, its time to let them go. By continuing to work the 

steps, the character defects which have destroyed our peace of mind begin to change. Seeing the 

exact nature of our wrongs shows us just how powerless we really are. We see how futile it is to 

try to live on our own power. By working the steps we come to believe in a Power greater than 

ourselves. The honesty of the Fourth Step reaffirms our Third Step because we see, in stark 

reality, what a tremendous relief it is to rely on a Power greater than ourselves. By practicing 

the spiritual principles of honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness, we find that love, 

acceptance, tolerance, faith, self-respect, and trust become possible. When we live the Twelve 

Steps, we begin to experience freedom from the past, freedom to be ourselves, and knowledge 

of who and what we really are. This process is a healing onea big step in the direction of 

freedom. In this spirit we are ready to move on to Step Five, to share our inventory with God 

and another human being. 

The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous 

1. 

We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had 

become unmanageable. 

2. 

We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to 

sanity. 

3. 

We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we 

understood Him. 

4. 

We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 

5. 

We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature 

of our wrongs. 

6. 

We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 

7. 

We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 

8. 

We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make 

amends to them all. 

9. 

We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so 

would injure them or others. 

10. 

We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly 

admitted it. 

11. 

We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact 

with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us 

and the power to carry that out. 

12. 

Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry 

this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. 

Twelve Steps reprinted for adaptation by permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.