Contents
If you want to stop drinking, you face a task without end. A lifetime without a drink is such a huge prospect that it paralyzes. The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous did not give up this distant goal. They translated it into a goal that anyone can reach on any given day. That is the Power of Proximate Objectives in its simplest form.
Two men who keep relapsing
Situation
William G. Wilson, a New York stockbroker, has been drinking heavily for years. At the end of 1934, he goes through detox at Towns Hospital in Manhattan under the care of the physician William D. Silkworth. Robert Holbrook Smith, a physician in Akron, Ohio, has also been fighting alcohol in vain for years. Both come into contact with the Oxford Group, a Christian revival movement focused on moral renewal.
Link to the principle
Both know they have to stop. The goal is clear. But it doesn’t help them, because it is too far away. Every failed attempt makes the big goal seem even more out of reach.
A phone call in Akron
Situation
In the spring of 1935, Wilson is in Akron on business. There he feels a strong urge to drink. Instead of giving in, he calls a minister and asks for another alcoholic he can talk to. That is how he meets Smith. June 10, 1935, is regarded as the founding date of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Link to the principle
Wilson’s decision in that moment is a proximate objective in its smallest form: not saving his whole life, but getting through this one evening sober. And with a concrete means: a conversation with someone who has the same problem.
Today, not forever
Situation
In the groups that now form, one principle takes hold: staying sober one day at a time. No one has to promise never to drink again. They simply resolve not to drink today. Tomorrow the task begins anew.
Link to the principle
This is the heart of the principle. The proximate objective “today” is attainable, even for someone who has failed many times. It clarifies the situation: there is only one question that counts today. And every day achieved makes the next one more likely, because it builds experience and confidence.
Steps instead of leaps
Situation
In April 1939, the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” appears, known in the movement as the “Big Book.” It contains the Twelve Steps for the first time. They draw on principles of the Oxford Group, such as an honest inventory of one’s own life and making amends to others. Later, Alcoholics Anonymous sets down in its Traditions that the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.
Link to the principle
The Twelve Steps, too, are a sequence of proximate objectives. No one has to change their life all at once. Each step is a separate, manageable task that prepares the next one.
From 100 to millions
Situation
In 1939, the movement has about 100 members; by 1955, some 150,000. For 2021, AA itself reports just under two million members in about 180 countries. The groups are self-supporting and decline outside contributions. Many members go only by their first name. In 2020 a Cochrane review concluded that participation in AA leads to continuous abstinence more often than the other treatments studied. AA does not replace medical help, for example during withdrawal.
Link to the principle
Here the Power of Proximate Objectives also lies in the fact that they can be shared. Anyone can tell someone else how they made it through today. Many small objectives, once reached, give rise to a community that makes the distant goal bearable for the individual.
Key takeaways
Key lessons
- If a goal paralyzes you, shorten the time frame, not your standard.
- Ask yourself every morning: What has to succeed today?
- Give yourself a concrete means for difficult moments, not just a resolution.
- Break big changes into steps you can take one at a time.
- Share small successes with others; it makes the next one easier.
Summary
In 1935, William G. Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith found a way out of an addiction they had failed to overcome again and again. They kept the distant goal of getting free of alcohol for good, but they put a closer one in front of it: stay sober today. This attainable goal, the Twelve Steps and the fellowship turned Alcoholics Anonymous into a worldwide movement.
Sources
- Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism. New York: Works Publishing 1939.
- John F. Kelly, Keith Humphreys, Marica Ferri: Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs for alcohol use disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020.
- Richard P. Rumelt: Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters. New York: Crown Business 2011.
