Spot Check Inventory
This is one of several tools we are making available for free on our website that are mentioned in our book An Ounce of Prevention: A Course in Relapse Prevention. This intervention addresses how one can quickly evaluate the condition of his or her spiritual and emotional well-being. We call this sober tool a spot check inventory and below you will learn more about why we believe it is important to conduct such an inventory on a daily basis.
A spot check inventory can be used any time of the day to assess your level of emotional and spiritual well-being. Ideally you will derive ongoing benefit from the tool if you employ it at the start of your day or the conclusion of your evening.
You are free to use any format you like to take a spot check inventory. Our preference is the framework found in the spiritual benchmarks known as the “12 Promises” which are found in the original recovery text of Alcoholics Anonymous, (1965). The book’s author suggests that the promises are realized after completing one’s 9th Step – “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others”, however, we have used the promises for years as a tool for taking our spiritual temperature.
If you review the 12 Promises on a daily basis and consider what you might do to enhance its prominence in your life, you will find that you will become aware of strategies that you can employ to initiate desired changes in your life or, at the very minimum, identify focal points for you to explore with members of your support group or therapist.
You can review each of the promises on a daily basis or focus your attention specifically on the promises you are having difficulty with.
Ready to Use This Tool?
Sober Tools
Spot Check Inventory
A spot check inventory can be used any time of the day to assess your level of emotional and spiritual well-being. Ideally, you will derive ongoing benefit from the tool if you employ it at the start of your day or the conclusion of your evening.
You are free to use any format you like to take a spot check inventory. Our preference is the framework found in the spiritual benchmarks known as the “12 Promises,” which are found in the original recovery text of Alcoholics Anonymous (1965). The book’s author suggests that the promises are realized after completing one’s 9th Step — “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others” — however, we have used the promises for years as a tool for taking our spiritual temperature.
If you review the 12 Promises daily and consider what you might do to enhance their prominence in your life, you can become aware of strategies for initiating desired changes or identify focal points to explore with members of your support group or therapist.
You can review each promise daily or focus specifically on the promises you are having difficulty with.
How to Complete Your Inventory
- Date your entry. Enter the reference number of the promise you are assessing in the “Promise” column.
- Review the list of 12 Promises and place a − (minus) in the “Status” column to denote that you are lacking in the feature or a + (plus) to identify that you have made satisfactory progress.
- In the “Plan / Description” column, write down something simple you can do to increase the presence of that feature in your life when your status is −. If your status is +, briefly describe how it is present in your life.
- Review your spot check inventories with a member of your support group on a regular basis.
Review the Twelve Promises
- We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
- We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
- We will comprehend the word serenity.
- We will know peace.
- No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
- That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
- We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
- Self-seeking will slip away.
- Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
- Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
- We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
- We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
© Leadem Counseling & Consulting Services, P.C. 2013
Sober Tools – Spot Check Inventory
A spot check inventory can be used any time of the day to assess your level of emotional and spiritual well-being. Ideally you will derive ongoing benefit from the tool if you employ it at the start of your day or the conclusion of your evening.
You are free to use any format you like to take a spot check inventory. Our preference is the framework found in the spiritual benchmarks known as the “12 Promises” which are found in the original recovery text of Alcoholics Anonymous, (1965). The book’s author suggests that the promises are realized after completing one’s 9th Step – “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others”, however, we have used the promises for years as a tool for taking our spiritual temperature.
If you review the 12 Promises on a daily basis and consider what you might do to enhance its prominence in your life, you will find that you will become aware of strategies that you can employ to initiate desired changes in your life or, at the very minimum, identify focal points for you to explore with members of your support group or therapist.
You can review each of the promises on a daily basis or focus your attention specifically on the promises you are having difficulty with.