Originally Posted by Terminally Unique
There is a reason that half-hearted "Big Plans" don't work. If the plan is not forever, you won't actually hear the Addictive Voice in all its glory. If you try this simple exercise, you'll see what I mean...
Say the following to yourself, in order, and after each one, observe your thoughts and feelings for a few minutes.
I will not drink/use just for today.
I will not drink/use for a month.
I will not drink/use for six months.
I will not drink/use for a year.
I will never drink/use again.
I will never drink/use again, and I will never change my mind.
At the lower items, particularly the first one, you won't feel much anxiety or head noise. As you move down the list, though, you should notice increased anxiety and head noise. Even at item number five, though, you probably won't yet feel the full anxiety and head noise, because you still reserve the option to change your mind.
Technically, it is incorrect to say that the first five plans "don't work". I have had 40 consecutive #1 plans, and they have all worked.
I think the original author is framing them in the context of success being defined exclusively as a lifetime of total abstinence. In that regard I think the argument has merit. However, if the plan is simply to not drink today, then if I am sober at midnight, the plan worked.
Whether or not that qualifies as a "half-hearted Big Plan" is open for discussion, but a literal interpretation (which we seem to favor here in Secularland) of what is written is flawed unless success (or what "works" means) is defined as the author apparently has.