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It took me 8 months to get through 4/5. I'm at 17 months now and am still on 8/9. I started over with a new sponsor 6 weeks ago. I feel most of the promises and am at peace most days so I'm not in a huge hurry but I want to get through 8/9 for some long term relief.
Talk to your sponsor - make it known to him you would like to get through the steps and come up with a plan - if he ignores you find someone you like that is willing to get you through them now - at the end of the day it is your recovery - obviously God is in control - but we have to take the actions
Conversation Starter
I’m already working the steps and have a plan with my sponsor, I was just asking what others’ paths looked like.
Bowl Leader
It took me about a year to go through all the steps. While I don’t think there is a “right” timeframe to complete them in, there can definitely be penalties (like relapse, or you know, death) for going too slow (if one is procrastinating) or too fast (not having enough time in the rooms and exposure to have a step sink in enough).
I’ve done the steps 3 times with 3 different sponsors in my six and a half years of sobriety, and my general advice, from my experiences is:
1) Tis better to keep momentum than to dwell on a step for fear of not doing it perfectly.
2) I don’t have to understand (or like) a step or suggestion to get the benefits from it. Almost invariably I couldn’t logically grasp why I needed to do a certain step until after I had completed it.
3) Your Higher Power can change and evolve, and it’s better to use what you’ve got (e.g. the Group, or whatever works for you at the moment) than to wait until you feel you’ve fully comprehended the nature of God, since we may never get there. There’s been a few times where I’ve needed to “trade in” my HP for a bigger one.
4) I don’t view the steps as “one and done”; I’m changing and my environment is changing, and every subsequent time I’ve been through the steps I get a deeper understanding of myself and of recovery.
The quality of how you work the steps is more important than the speed or "efficiency". The steps are in a sequence for a reason, and each step builds upon how substantive the work is an alcoholic has done (except for the first step obviously). There is no "one way" or average or typical in my experience.
I finished in like 13 months but my sponsor only had me do 3 amends then we moved on to step 10 as that can take forever and I needed to progress and have my spiritual tools from 10/11/12. I still try to do about 1 amends a week. You can DM me if you'd like to chat.
It's really your own pace but going quicker is often helpful. That said I got scared when I reached step 9 at like 3 month sober and ended up spending like 5 months back on 3 until I was ready to do 4/5/6/7/8 again and finally 9.
All great perspectives…Bill W. did his in a day I think
Took me 5 months to complete the first set of steps. I started taking a meeting into a local treatment center and sponsoring others a month later.
Now I feel behind lol
Don't feel behind OP. I used to feel this way too but I realized that we are all running a different race so there is no reason to look left or right and see who is passing you. All you need to do is put your blinders on and stay focused on YOUR journey. The timing will be perfect for you.
Conversation Starter
It takes as long as it takes - as long as you’re working on it, and making a thorough, honest effort. Don’t compare your timeline to others. It took me over a year to do all 12 steps. You’re on the right track - I think step 3 is the most important step. Take your time. Don’t listen anyone else who is judging you. When I was new people would tell me I was taking too long, etc., a lot of those people who were on step 9 their second month aren’t around anymore.