The steamHouse Commons · A Guided Inventory
The Author's Inventory
You're already the author. This helps you read what you've written so far.
The steamHouse Core Code describes how people work — how decisions happen, how you're built, what you can develop. The Author's Inventory takes those same ideas and turns the lens on you. Not a personality test. Not a type-sorter. An honest reckoning with where you stand, what you've built, and what comes next. Three acts, one honest look, and your call on what to do about it.
- ~The Thread · Reflective ThinkingThe one skill the whole inventory asks you to use.~5 min
- IAct I · The Wake-UpHow much of your life is being written by you?30–45 min
- IIAct II · The AuditWhat have you built — and does it serve you?45–60 min
- IIIAct III · The TurnWhat are you going to do about it?30–45 min
- ◊Coda · The MirrorAre you walking the walk? (for mentors)15–20 min
This isn't built for one sitting. Each section stands on its own (5–15 minutes), and your answers save automatically in this browser. Come and go.
The Thread · ~5 min · mirrors +1 Reflective Thinking
The Thread
Before we begin, the one skill everything else depends on.
Think about what you had for your last meal. Now: were you aware that you were remembering? Did you notice the mental image forming? Could you watch yourself searching for the answer? That — the ability to observe your own mind at work — is Reflective Thinking. It's the thread that runs through everything steamHouse teaches, and the muscle this whole inventory asks you to use. Some people find it natural; others find it strange or hard. Neither is better. Knowing where you start matters.
How often do you catch yourself on autopilot — doing something without having consciously decided to?
In an argument, how often can you observe yourself while you're arguing?
Whatever you answered — you just did the thing. You reflected on your own thinking. That's the muscle the rest of this inventory will exercise. Let's begin.
Learn more about Reflective Thinking →
Act I · 30–45 min · mirrors Autopilot → Decision → Mindsets → Authorship
The Wake-Up
How much of your life is being written by you?
Comfortable → unsettled → curious → motivated
1A · Mirrors Autopilot
Your Autopilot
Most of what you do in a day, you do without deciding to. That's not a flaw — it's how brains work. The question isn't whether you run on autopilot. It's whether your autopilot is serving you.
The Autopilot Scan
A context check — before you assess yourself, remember where you're standing.
1B · Mirrors Decision
Your Decisions
Every decision follows the same structure: something registers as mattering (Care), you make sense of it (Think), you respond (Act). Most of this happens automatically. Let's look at how it works in you.
A tool to run here
The Thinking Bias Profiler
An eight-dimension read of your particular distortion patterns — the places your thinking reliably bends. Everyone has them; the point is to see yours. Run it, then bring what you notice back here.
Available in the Workshop ToolkitDecision pattern reflection — think of the last important decision you made.
1C · Mirrors Mindsets
Your Mindset Patterns
Three levels of attention: Automatic (you're not aware), Conscious (you're paying attention), Purposeful (you're directing your attention on purpose). Most people operate at all three, depending on the domain. Where do you operate?
Domain mapping — where are you, honestly, in each?
| Domain | Mostly Automatic | Mostly Conscious | Mostly Purposeful |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work / school | |||
| Relationships | |||
| Health / body | |||
| Money | |||
| Screen time / attention | |||
| Big life decisions |
1D · Mirrors Authorship
Your Authorship Position
Authorship means writing your own story — consciously, deliberately, on purpose. The opposite isn't failure; it's living someone else's script without knowing it. Where are you on that spectrum?
A tool to run here
The Authorship Assessment
Positions you on the autopilot-to-authorship spectrum, with developmental context. Run it, then place yourself below.
Available in the Workshop ToolkitIdentity position — which best describes where you are right now?
From the identity research (Marcia): exploring and committing aren't the same move. Moratorium isn't failure — it's the work. Foreclosure feels stable but hasn't been tested.
Your Wake-Up Profile
Autopilot patterns—
Decision tendencies—
Most-automatic domain—
Authorship / identity—
The question Act I asks: How much of your life is being written by you?
What to sit with — not "is this good or bad," but "is this what I want?"
Act II · 45–60 min · mirrors Architecture → Gold Star Kit → Care Space → Teams
The Audit
What have you built — and does it serve you?
Curious → revealing → sometimes uncomfortable → clear-eyed
2A · Mirrors Architecture
Your Architecture
You have three ever-present capacities: Heart (what you care about), Head (how you think), Body (what you do) — mapping to Purpose, Paradigm, and Practice. In a healthy system they work together. In most people they're unevenly developed.
Architecture balance
2B · Mirrors the Gold Star Kit · the heart of the inventory
Your Gold Star Kit
Your Kit is everything you've built — your values, your thinking tools, your capabilities. Not what should be there. What is. This is the honest audit.
A tool to run here
The Gold Star Kit Assessment
Fifteen questions — five each across Purpose, Paradigm, and Practice — returning a profile of your Kit as a system. Run it, then deepen it with the inventories below.
Available in the Workshop ToolkitIdeals inventory — the values you actually live by
The gap between a stated value and a lived one isn't hypocrisy. It's information.
Toolbox inventory — the thinking tools you reach for
Gear inventory — what you can reliably do
The inheritance & gap audit
2C · Mirrors Care Space
Your Circles
You exist in circles of connection — from self, to close relationships, to teams, to community, to the wider world. Where are your circles strong? Where are they thin?
Care Space mapping — rate how strong each circle is, and how much attention you give it
| Circle | Thin | Okay | Strong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self your own wellbeing | |||
| Close family, intimate friends | |||
| Team collaborators | |||
| Community local, belonging | |||
| World the wider whole |
You can't sustainably care about the planet while neglecting your own wellbeing. The innermost circle is load-bearing.
2D · Mirrors Teams
Your Team Patterns
How you show up in teams reveals patterns you can't see alone. Growth flows through relationships and shared work — but only if you're aware of what you bring to the table.
In a group project, what role do you naturally gravitate toward?
When your team disagrees, what's your first instinct?
Psychological safety check — in the teams you're part of now, can you…
Your Audit Profile
Architecture balance—
Kit gap that stands out—
Neglected circle—
Team role / conflict—
The question Act II asks: What have you built — and does it serve you?
What to sit with — not "what's wrong," but "what's true."
Act III · 30–45 min · mirrors Principles → Practices → Meaning
The Turn
What are you going to do about it?
Reflective → grounded → purposeful → committed
3A · Mirrors Principles
Your Principles
Four principles ground everything steamHouse teaches: Reflective Thinking, Personal Agency, Mutual Respect, Objective Reason. They're not rules — they're commitments. And the gap between commitment and practice is where the real work lives.
Principles self-assessment — rate each, honestly, on how often and how well you live it
| Principle | Rarely | Sometimes | Often | It's a habit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reflective Thinking I think about my thinking — honestly | ||||
| Personal Agency I own my choices; I act under uncertainty | ||||
| Mutual Respect I treat others with dignity — especially those I disagree with | ||||
| Objective Reason I seek evidence; I change my mind when it warrants |
3B · Mirrors Practices
Your Practices
Six practices form the loop of authorship: Notice, Choose, Check, Connect, Build, Review. They're what an author actually does — daily, weekly, seasonally. Where are you in the loop?
Practices self-assessment
| Practice | Never | Rarely | Sometimes | Often | Habit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notice catch yourself on autopilot | |||||
| Choose decide rather than react | |||||
| Check test thinking against reality | |||||
| Connect extend respect and curiosity | |||||
| Build deliberately develop your Kit | |||||
| Review step back and assess |
3C · Mirrors Meaning
Your Meaning
The deepest layer. What is your life for? Not what should matter, not what you've been told matters — what actually matters when you're honest. These questions don't have right answers. They have your answers, which may be incomplete or evolving. That's fine. Notice where you are, not where you "should" be.
A tool to run here
The 78-Marker Self-Assessment
A self-rating across all 78 Development Markers (17 Stars, 31 Lenses, 30 Keys), returned as a developmental landscape — where you're strongest, and where there's room. The growth edges it surfaces feed your commitment, below.
Available in the Workshop ToolkitExplore the markers in the Marker Explorer →
Purpose clarity
The authorship question
The Commitment
An inventory without action is just contemplation — useful, maybe, but not authorship. Authorship requires committing to something specific.
Name your moves, drawn from what you found
The commitment statement
Keep the loop going
The Personal Annual Review
Come back to this inventory in three months, six months, or a year. Use the Quick Check (~20 min) monthly and the Full Review (~90 min) annually to see what's moved.
Open the Personal Annual Review →Your Turn Profile
Principle you rationalize—
Weakest practice—
The one thing—
Your commitment—
The question Act III asks: What are you going to do about it?
What happens next — live it, review it, come back.