What is your favorite tool in OA and Why?
The 9 tools of recovery are: Plan of Eating; Sponsorship; Writing; Literature; Action Plan; Anonymity; Meetings; Telephone; Service
I love meetings. Meetings are where I recharge my recovery. Even when I don’t feel like going, I almost always leave with exactly what I needed to hear and I also can be of service by sharing my experience, strength and hope and may help another fellow. I can also be of service and find sponsees.
– Anonymous
My favorite tool is sponsorship cause that keeps me sober. “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking (compulsive eating) as intensive work with other alcoholics (compulsive eaters) – (Chapter 7, Working With Others). I also use literature, in my case, the Big Book, cause I tend to forget. I can read it over and over again.
– Val
Literature
OA literature reminds me that I’m not unique in my struggles. Every time I read, I find hope from someone who has walked this path before me and found recovery.
– Anonymous
Outreach calls are a useful tool. Sometimes, I don’t want to make them, but it has saved me more times than I can count. A five-minute call can interrupt isolation, stop my disease from convincing me I’m alone, and reconnect me with recovery.
– Kat
My Tools of Recovery” are like the handrails of a stairwell that help me get up the steps when I need them. They are always there when off balanced and need support. I just have to grab a hold of them while taking living in the Steps.
– Mel B
The 9 Tools of Recovery:
🥗 Plan of Eating
📞 Sponsorship
📝 Writing
📚 Literature
📅 Action Plan
🤝 Anonymity
💬 Meetings
📱 Telephone
💜 Service
One of my fellow members in the program likes to say the tools enable me to work the Steps.
And here’s how I think that applies to me..
🥗 Plan of Eating – without an ever vigilant approach to planning my food I can’t be sober enough to work the Steps.
📞 Sponsorship – this activity actually keeps me in the Steps constantly and usually I’m sharing things I actually need to hear myself.
📝 Writing – this I have to admit is my most challenging tool, but here I am pushing that boundary forward.
📚 Literature – I love literature and I constantly read about new ways to work the Steps as well as all the standard ways I love so much.
📅 Action Plan – this is fundamental to my Step work. My action plan includes reading two pages a night from some of the books on the Steps I mentioned above.
🤝 Anonymity – this keeps my relationships with my fellows in good condition allowing me to focus on Step work and not interpersonal drama.
💬 Meetings – I love Step study meetings!
📱 Telephone – I find work the Steps goes best when I’m connecting to others to discuss those.
💜 Service – service helps me live in the Steps and practice these principles in all my affairs.
Thanks for letting me share and I wish for you a happy, joyous, and free 24 ahead in OA.
-Anonymous
©2026 Experience Strength & Hope Newsletter,
All rights reserved. Proudly sponsored by OA Foot Steps VIG #09670.
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The experience, strength, and hope expressed in this article, reflect the individual OA members and does not represent OA as a whole. Other OA groups and service bodies are welcome to reprint articles from Experience, Strength & Hope Newsletter without permission. When reprinting from other OA newsletters, be sure to credit the source.
