The Game Plan

Posted by Ron Ball

Mar 06, 06

How do you feel about planning? Do you like to make plans? Do you use a Daytimer, FranklinCovey system, PDA or Microsoft Outlook to plan? I was working with a client recently. He had a real block against doing plans even though he had written many plans in his business career. In doing EFT, he discovered that he really didn’t have a resistance to planning. It was something else. Here’s what it was. EFT is good about bubbling up the real issues. With my client, guess what popped up? Instead of a block to planning, it was a resistance to doing meaningless work. As an executive in corporations, he had done all kinds of plans. Many were shelved. He felt that it was a waste of his energy and efforts. It was in vain and it wasn’t fair.

We started out tapping on:

Even though I don’t like planning, I accept myself.

Even though I have a resistance to planning, I deeply and completely accept myself.

Once we discovered the real issues, we changed the EFT setup phrase to:

Even though I really dislike doing meaningless work, I deeply and completely accept myself.

Even though I hate putting my heart and soul into something that is not valued and appreciated, I deeply and completely accept myself.

Even though I feel that what happened to my plans in the past was unfair, I deeply and completely accept myself.

After several rounds of tapping, his attitude towards planning shifted. There wasn’t such an emotional charge to it. If you have a resistance to planning, what might it be? Do any of the following click for you?

• Fear of being wrong
• Fear of not doing it right
• Fear of having to have a “perfect” plan
• Belief that a plan has to be complete, “set in stone”
• Fear that planning is overwhelming
• Feeling of “have to” instead of “want to”
• Fear of not having enough information
• Not wanting to lose spontaneity
• Fear of not having enough time
• Feeling that planning is boring
• Belief that planning is difficult
• Not wanting to be “boxed in”

Do rounds of EFT on whatever obstacles you may have to planning. Then ask yourself the power question, “How can I make planning fun?” Also change the word, “plan.” Use another word that feels better. For example, instead of creating a plan, create a road map or paint a picture. Think of planning as doing your best to purposefully create an outcome you want. Above all, add some play to your planning!