Briarwood Detox Center — Step 3 worksheet
Step 3 worksheet — letting go of running it yourself
Step 3 asks for a decision: to stop running your life on self-will alone and let the power you settled on in Step 2 have a say in it.
Step 3 is a decision, not an achievement. You will make it and then take it back, probably several times before lunch. That is normal. Make it anyway, in writing.
Where self-will runs the show
Self-will is not ambition. It is the insistence that things go the way you have decided they should, and the wreckage when they do not.
Where am I currently trying to control an outcome I cannot control?
Who am I trying to manage or change?
What am I certain I know better than everyone around me?
What happened the last time I forced something?
What I am afraid of if I stop
If I stopped managing everything, what do I think would fall apart?
What does surrender mean to me — and what does it NOT mean?
Whose life am I confusing with mine?
The decision, in my own words
Write it yourself. A borrowed prayer read aloud once is worth less than a plain sentence you meant. Date it, so you can come back and see what you decided.
Today I am deciding to hand over:
What I will do differently tomorrow because of that decision:
How I will notice when I have taken it back:
Before you put this away
A worksheet is a way to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper. It is not the step. Step 3 is worked with a sponsor, a counselor, or someone else who has done it — they will see things in these pages that you cannot see yourself.
Who am I going to show this to, and when?
What did I leave off these pages because I did not want to write it down?
This worksheet is provided free by Briarwood Detox Center for personal reflection. It is not medical advice, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Work it with a sponsor or counselor. If you need help right now, call (866) 710-7710. If you have thoughts of self-harm, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 in an emergency.