A Softer, Easier Twelve Step Program
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- 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.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Now that you’ve seen the twelve steps as they are used in almost every recovery program, try looking at our behavior when we are left to our own devices. It’s much easier, because it is more in line with our natural behavior when we don’t feel like working on ourselves. It is called
“The Twelve Steps to Total Insanity”:
1. We admitted we were powerless over nothing, and that we could manage our lives perfectly and manage the lives of everyone we knew better than they could themselves.
2. Came to believe that there was no power greater than ourselves and that everyone else was insane.
3. Made a decision to have our loved ones, friends, and everyone else we knew turn their lives over to us.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of everyone we knew.
5. Admitted to ourselves, a friend, and God the nature of their wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God straighten out these people.
7. Demanded them to remove all our shortcomings.
8. Mad a list of anyone who had ever harmed us and became willing to do anything to get even with them.
9. Got direct revenge on these persons except when doing so would costs us our lives or a prison term.
10. Continued to take inventory of others, and when they were wrong, promptly admitted they were in error.
11. Sought through complaining, nagging and bitching to imporve our relations with others as we could not understand them at all, asking only that they do things the right way —- our way.
12. Having a complete physical, emotional, and spiritual breakdown as a result of these steps, tried to blame it on others to get their sympathy and pity in all our affairs.
Yes, it made me roar. I leaned so far off my chair I almost fell, as I thought of people I knew who had these steps down pat. Then I looked again and began to recognize some behaviors in myself. I hate that darn mirror. But you have to look in it every so often.
Tags: Behavior, Best Practices, Executive Coach, executive coaching, Executive Recovery, Leadership, Recovery, Twelve steps
