Step Seven Work Guide: Humbly Asking for the Removal of Shortcomings

Understanding Humility

Before working Step Seven, spend some time reflecting on what humility means to you. Write about the difference between humility and self-deprecation. Write about a time when you acted with genuine humility — when you acknowledged your limitations honestly and asked for help. What did that feel like?

Exercise 1: Writing Your Seventh Step Prayer

Write your own version of the Seventh Step Prayer in language that is meaningful to you. Your prayer should express:

• A genuine willingness to have your shortcomings removed
• An acknowledgment that you cannot remove them through willpower alone
• A request for help — from your Higher Power, however you understand it
• A commitment to act in accordance with the removal of your shortcomings

Exercise 2: The Opposite Action

For each of your primary character defects, identify the opposite behavior — the action that reflects the virtue rather than the defect. For example:

• Dishonesty → Honesty: Tell the truth in a situation where you would normally lie or evade.
• Selfishness → Generosity: Do something for someone else without any expectation of return.
• People-pleasing → Authenticity: Express your genuine opinion in a situation where you would normally say what others want to hear.

Choose one opposite action to practice this week. Write about what happens.

Exercise 3: Tracking Progress

Keep a brief daily record of how your character defects showed up and how you responded. Did you act from the defect, or did you choose the opposite action? What made the difference?

Questions for Discussion with Your Sponsor

• What does humility feel like in my body?
• Which shortcomings am I most aware of in my daily life?
• What opposite actions am I practicing?
• How is my relationship with my Higher Power changing as I work this step?

Exercise 4: The Humility Inventory

Write about the ways in which you have practiced humility in your recovery so far. When have you asked for help? When have you admitted you were wrong? When have you deferred to someone else's wisdom rather than insisting on your own? What did those experiences feel like? What did they produce?

Exercise 5: The Shortcomings Journal

For one week, keep a brief daily journal of the shortcomings you notice in yourself. Each day, write about one or two specific instances in which a character defect showed up — what the situation was, what the defect was, how it manifested, and what you did (or wish you had done) differently. At the end of the week, review the journal. What patterns do you notice? Which shortcomings are most persistent?

Exercise 6: The Strength Behind the Shortcoming

For each of your primary shortcomings, write about the strength or quality that underlies it. As discussed in the Step Six work guide, character defects are often distorted expressions of genuine qualities. Identifying the underlying strength helps you see that Step Seven is not asking you to become less than you are — it is asking you to become more fully yourself, with your genuine qualities expressed in healthier ways.

The Role of Action in Step Seven

Step Seven is sometimes misunderstood as a passive step — one simply asks for the removal of shortcomings and waits for them to disappear. But the removal of shortcomings is a collaborative process. The person asks for help and then acts in accordance with that request.

In practice, this means choosing the opposite action when a shortcoming arises. The person who has asked for the removal of dishonesty must practice honesty — must choose to tell the truth in situations where lying would be easier. The person who has asked for the removal of selfishness must practice generosity — must look for opportunities to put others' needs alongside their own. The action is not the removal of the shortcoming; it is the expression of the virtue that the shortcoming has been blocking.

Signs That You Have Genuinely Worked Step Seven

You have genuinely worked Step Seven when:

• You have written and said your Seventh Step Prayer
• You have a clear understanding of what humility means — not self-deprecation, but accurate self-assessment
• You have identified specific opposite actions for your primary shortcomings
• You are practicing those opposite actions in your daily life
• You are ready to begin the amends process of Steps Eight and Nine