Resolutions and the law of excluded middle

Have you ever pledged at the beginning of the year to drop some habits, be a better wife, make more money, be more disciplined , buy a new car , house , get married etc . Then at the beginning of another year, you find yourself staring at the old list you used to start the previous year. And wondering why nothing seemed to have changed. Well, you are not alone. About this time every year, people all over the world make New Year resolutions and this is the experience of majority of them.

A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning. I would also add that About 10% of the new year resolutions made at the beginning of the year survive the first 3 months. If this is the reality why make one then? Before, we answer these questions lets take a look at the origin of this yearly ritual and fully understand the purpose.

Origins of New Year Resolutions

The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named. In the Medieval era, the knights took the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment. There are other religious parallels to this tradition. However, The concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect upon self-improvement annually.

Why most New Year Resolutions Fail?

Most New Year resolutions fail because of 2 reasons:

· There was no resolution in the first place:

People don’t really know what a resolution is. A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something. It is more than a to do list on a sheet of paper or a year in year out ritual that never comes to fruition?

It is the firmness of mind or purpose. It is an answer to a problem. A

resolution is a means to an end, A starting process that helps you get your desired results. It involves invoking the human will upon the mind and body to achieve a desired goal. Until the list comes off that paper and becomes a part of your thinking process, it would not survive the next 7 days. Until your spirit, soul and body understands the message on paper, there is no difference between it and toilet paper.

You must understand that when you are making a New Year resolution, what you are actually trying to do is make a change to your self-image. Your desire must be in sync with your self-image if not there will be a conflict of interests. If your self-image is not worked on to accommodate these new set of goals, your resolution is destined to fail. So how can you alter your self-image to be in sync with your resolutions? Well, The self image is a whole topic on its own and it is not within the scope of this article to do full justice to that, you can find more info on that on SELF IMAGE. Nonetheless, the following tips can be very helpful:

1. Stand in front of a mirror, stare straight into your eyes and speak the new year resolutions to yourself. E.g. “I’m loosing 50 pounds this year”, “I no longer drink alcohol”,etc

2. Use your imagination to paint mental pictures of yourself achieving these resolutions, filling the image with detailed emotional reaction

3. Practice this for about 30mins daily, for about 21days and you will notice a great change in personality

The Law of Excluded Middle:

The law of excluded middle is one of the three laws of thought in the field of logic that is extremely important when developing critical thinking skills. It states that :

For any property and for any individual, either that individual possesses that property or that individual does not possess that property. That is, a statement is either true or false.

For example, my hair is red. It is either true or false that my hair is red. Another example: I am pregnant. The statement is either true or false. Since I am a male, it is not possible for me to be pregnant. Therefore, the statement is false. If I were a female, it would be possible for me to be pregnant (given normal bodily conditions). A woman is not "kind-of" pregnant. She either is or is not pregnant - there is no middle position. There is no purgatory, either you are heaven bound or hell bound. Either you are rich or you are poor.

The law of excluded middle is important because it helps us deal in absolutes. And the only way your resolutions can come to reality is when

you see them as absolutes. This is particularly important because we live in a society where relativism is promoted and truth statements are denied, which makes it even harder for Resolutions to survive.

How can this law help in your New Year Resolutions? It creates a firm foundation for achieving them. It gives no room for compromise, logical or otherwise, there is no exception, and no middle alternative. It recognizes either of two states : The Resolution State or The consequence State.

For example, you resolve to lose 50 pounds this year. And to achieve this you must jog 10 laps every week and be on a zero cholesterol diet. Based on this law it is anathema for you to jog 91/2 laps in a week or have half a bar of chocolate even once. Once the whole process is compromised, the system is compromised and the result is the consequence state.

Another example is , if you resolve to save $1000 by the end of the year while your total monthly income is $180. And the process to achieve this is to save $100 every month. In other to pull this through, you have to deny yourself daily lunch, cancel your monthly dinner with your girlfriend and stop unnecessary spending. If your girlfriend threatens to breakup on the third month or the latest ipad is released you have to maintain your ground. There is no option of taking her out for at least one hour just to save the relationship or using part of the money to get the new iPad, hoping to make up by working extra hours. No! Once the process is compromised, the whole system will fail and the result is the consequence state.

So before you perform another yearly ritual that doesn’t work