Visualize positive changes resulting from your moral inventory.

 A moral inventory involves examining your personal history to understand the behaviors, motivations, and emotions behind your actions. It’s a vital part of the 12-step program, which requires “Making a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” 

A moral inventory can be considered a self-audit, looking at the good, bad, and ugly. What areas of yourself need improvement? What wrongdoings need to be addressed? That honest answer is your moral inventory.

Part of my moral inventory included deception. At the time, I liked to think of myself as “mysterious,” but looking back, I knew I was deceptive: telling people things that weren’t true and not being honest about my feelings. Part of this was my emotional unavailability and using people to validate insecurities, but it was misleading and deceptive nonetheless.

Embracing sobriety, I was able to call myself out on these behaviors and be accountable. During my addiction, I would let it slide or make excuses, but as a sober man, I spotted patterns and took inventory of myself.

Taking an accurate moral inventory helped in a few ways: improved relationships, spurred personal growth, and increased empathy because as I dug through my garbage, I began to understand others with issues, too.

A moral inventory can feel like trekking through a thorny forest but leads to a beautiful destination within you.