There was a time when I would say I had taken the Steps many times. However, I still had problems. That meant that I had not taken the Steps. I had taken actions forming part of the Steps many times. But I had not had the spiritual awakening in the sense described in the Big Book.
Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before. My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go back to it even if I could. (Pages 42 to 43)
What this means is that the perception I have problems is a denial of the first line.
There are two ways of living. The ego way or the God way. If you're not in one, you're in the other.
As soon as a 'problem' appears, when I have the understanding that it will be solved by spiritual principles, the 'problem' disappears. The 'problem' is not a problem and so is not real, so even the 'solution' is not real, either, but an illusion that cancels out another illusion: a happy illusion that leads to the doorway of truth.
So, if you think you have taken the Steps, ask yourself but this one, short question:
Do I have any problems?
If so, the Steps, which are really a single process that produces total release, have not been taken.
You can turn the dial on the safe as many times as you like, but if you don't get the combination right, the safe will not open. Similarly, you can do all the Stepwork you like: if something is missed, the safe will not open, and the treasure will not be revealed.
But no fear: Try again, and this time, do everything that the Big Book asks, systematically.