“Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” -- The 4th step of AA
Fear shoots through us when we hear of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit. Even if we feel we are clean, we fear they will find dirt. Oh, my; fines or worse as imprisonment is a real thought, and so is the sweat accumulating in our armpits.
An audit, “an official inspection of an individual's or organization's accounts,” is standard practice for businesses and highly successful individuals. Involuntary as well as self-imposed audits happen all the time.
If one is thoroughly prepared and has performed a comprehensive inventory, there should be little cause for concern and it should be expected to be a pleasant experience.
However, we have found that this is not always the case. Many, including younger versions of ourselves, neglected to take stock or correctly identify assets and liabilities. The resulting conclusions: An audit can be stressful for the sloppy or peaceful for the prepared.
There are processes, practices, and principles deployed by the organized and structured that greatly reduce the exposure that affects the unprepared and lax record keeper. Here is the route we followed to right our tilted “corporation”:
We came to an understanding, an agreement with ourselves, that we were alcoholics. This, we decided, was our greatest asset. This admission lent value to each property we possessed.
We came to realize that we had a silent partner. This turning point expanded our potential exponentially.
We appointed a new charge for our silent partner: the CEO. This power shift allowed us to focus on the day-to-day.
We called for a complete inventory. We rolled up our sleeves and documented everything we had accumulated. We recorded the significant events, noting both the treasures and the trash.
We brought in a consultant and divulged everything we had discovered during our inventory process.
We took time to list all of the liabilities we had uncovered and entered all of our shortcomings into our model.
Our silent partner took those damaged goods off our hands in one simple, clean sweep.
We took stock of our vendor and customer relationships and noted which ones needed to be repaired to maintain the health of our entity.
We went out on the road and met with those we had slighted, attempting to restore our relationships to good status.
We enacted a continual improvement process that called for constant review of our assets and liabilities in real time and decreed a policy of immediate resolution for relationship missteps.
Introduced an advanced communication process with our CEO to assure transparency and immediate support.
We expanded our marketing targets to reach those in need of our services.
One should always be prepared to be held accountable. Current and honest data provide a reliable reflection of the health of a business venture, a family unit, or an individual.
Taking a thorough inventory is essential to all businesses and individuals alike, but it is especially important to those of us in recovery. A bad line item can break a strong spreadsheet. An authentic analysis provides trustworthy results. We need to drive a healthy bottom line to ensure sobriety.
There was no linchpin to our success. All of the steps were required and necessary to be carried out sequentially.
We love how this shit works!
Go ahead… AUDIT US!
“Continued to take personal inventory …” -- The 10th step of AA
Thoughts and ideas for this blog post were taken and built upon from a sober.coffee podcast “#176 titled “Accountability in Sobriety.” The podcast dropped on 8/7/2024. Click here to hear the podcast.
Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash
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Alcoholics Anonymous and AA are registered trademarks of Alcoholics World Service. Inc. References to AA, the 12 steps, and 12 traditions does not mean that AA has reviewed or approved the contents of this publication nor that AA agrees with the views expressed herein. This publication is intended to support personal growth and should not be considered a substitute for healthcare professionals' advice. The author’s advice and viewpoints are their own.
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