I have some very important choices I need to make about my future.  Is there anything I can do with EFT to help me make the "right" decisions?

I love this question because often we only think of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) as a tool to help us with issues that are already present.  EFT is a great tool for dealing with physical pain, memories that still effect us today, and the emotions we feel in this moment.  EFT is also a great tool for helping us to get clear to make better decisions for our future.

I believe there is a part of us that is constantly inspiring us to become our better selves.  It is the still small voice inside of us that is fully connected in oneness with everything in creation.  This still small voice has been given many names though out time in every culture and every faith.

The problem comes when it is difficult for us to hear this voice because there is so much other noise.  Besides this still small voice we also have worries, anxieties, and past experiences to content with.

EFT is not going to make you make the best choice for yourself.  You will always have free will to make any choice, but EFT is a very powerful tool in helping to quiet much of the unhelpful noise of worry, anxiety and past experience.  By doing this you are going to hear the still small voice inspiring you to be your better self more clearly.

There are three basic steps to doing this. 

1) Clear Resistance to Change
I was introduced to the idea of clearing any resistance to change at the beining any EFT by Maria and Ted Robinson.  If we haven't made a change or a choice in our life, then more than likely there is some resistance to change.  When it comes to making choices about our future it is a good idea to clean up any general resistance to change.  (We will get the specific resistance in the next step.)  It is a good idea to begin any EFT tapping session about a future choice like this:

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I need to make a decision about my future

Every time I am making a choice it means that I making a change

Change is scary because change brings different

Different can be scary

There is some part of me that is resisting this change

It is resisting this change because it worried the outcome might not be the best for me.

I thank this resistance because it is trying to protect me

But this resistance is making it hard for me to make the choice I need to make

The resistance is cluttering my mind so I can't see clearly

I choose to let go whatever resistance I have

I choose to know there is a still small voice in my that is going to lead me no the right path

I trust myself to make the right choice when I get clear

I give myself permission to let this resistance go

I give myself permission to trust my own judgment

 2) Clear The Emotions You Have Associated With Making The Choice
Every time we make a choice there are two aspects of the choice that can cause us worry.  They are the certainty of the outcome and the magnitude of the choice. 
Our level and worry is affected by the combination of these to factors.  Typically the higher the level of uncertainty or greater the magnitude of the choice the higher our anxiety level is going to be.  The lower the lever of uncertainty and the smaller the magnitude of the choice the lower our anxiety level.

Here are a few examples.

• Trying a new style of food we have never had before:  If you are not an adventurous eater the level on uncertainty could be very high. But you know you are going to be home in a few hours, so if you don't like it you aren't going to starve.  Therefore there isn't a great deal of anxiety of your dinner choice.
• Choosing a major in college:  For some reason you have known you whole life you were going to be a teacher.  You love sharing your knowledge.  You love watching people learn.  You really enjoyed the chances you have had in the past to teach, even when you had an unreceptive class.  But by choosing to major in education you are going to be taking very topic specific classes.  If you decided later to change your major none of the classes are going to be useful.  This is going to put you a year or two behind, which is going to cost you time and money.  Even though there is a great deal of certainty around the choice because of the magnitude of the choice it is going cause more anxiety.

Every choice we make is going to have aspects of certainty and magnitude associated with them.  These characteristics are also going to very personal.  One person might see a choice has being a very big deal (having a large magnitude) and another person will see the same choice as no bid deal.

It is a good thing that we have levels of worry and anxiety.  It is this cautious approach that helps us to not make completely impulsive or very dangerous choices.  The problem is when these worries and anxiety are the only thing we can hear.  By clearing these we are going to be more likely to hear the still small voice and make a better choice.  Each person is going to have a different set of worries, but it might look something like this:

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I am worried I am going to make the wrong choice

I am worried I am going to get stuck with an outcome I don't like

If I choose the wrong thing it is going to cost my years of my life

If I choose the wrong thing it is going to cost me so much money, money I can't afford to loose

I am worried if I make the wrong choice I am going to have to start at the beginning again, and I don't have the time or energy to do that.

I choose to know I a m not making a rash decision

I choose to know I have done my research

I choose to know even if I make the wrong choice I am going to learn from it and make a better choice next time

I choose to know even if I make the wrong choice I am going to get to choose again

There are lots of bad choice I have made in the past that haven't been the end of the world

I know the reason I a worried is because part of me is trying to protect me from making a bad choice

I know that whatever part of me is worried because it is trying to protect me

But it is being over vigilant.  It is preventing me from growing

I let this worry and anxiety step down

They are not needed right now

3) Clear The Emotions Associated With Getting The Outcome You Want
We can be of two minds about an outcome.  On one level we can see the outcome as a real positive and at the same time see it on another level as a real negative.  For example we might want a promotion at work.  On one level this is great because it means a raise and more prestige.  On another level it means we have more responsibility and we are more likely to make a fool of ourselves.

It is important for us to weigh all the pros and cons of any outcome.  This is a good step in any decision making process.  The problem comes when the cons of an outcome are the only thing we are able to focus on.  Even if we are not able to names these cons they are going to affect the choice we make.  Whatever part of us can name the cons is going to fill us with limiting beliefs, making it harder for us to make the choice that is best for us.

EFT is a great tool for cleaning up these penalties of success.  There is two ways we can do this.

First, there are going to the cons that we have already named.  These are going to different for every person and every choice, but here is an example of how you might tap on this:

I am worried that the new job is going to give me too much responsibility

If I have more responsibility I have more chances to screw up again

If I do this right, people are going to expect me to do it right again in the future and I can let them down

My family thinks this is bad choice because they don't understand my passion and think I am wasting my life

If I get what I want it is going to take more time and I am going to give up the things I love

I think I want this, but it might not be as great as I thought and I am going to be disappointed with the out come and feel like I have wasted my time and money

What are others going to think when they here this is my dream

Second there are going to cons that we are unable to name.  They are underlining emotions that are simply creating noise making it hard for us to hear the inspiration we need to hear.  In this case there is a very simple technique we can use to bring these emotions to the surface.

Remember the words we use in EFT are not magic; they are only useful in helping us to stay focused on the issue we are working.  If there is a way to stay focused on issues we need to work on, but don't need words to do it, then we don't need to say the words.

In this case we are dealing with emotions that we can't necessarily name, we need to create a situation in which we can feel those emotions intentionally.   This can be done in two ways.

The first way is to tune in to others who have walked the same path as you.  To do this Close your eyes.  Take a few deep breaths to relax.  Once you are centered and relax think of someone who has walked the same path as you successfully.  They can be someone you know very well or they could be a stranger.  All that matters is they have made similar choice to the one you would like to make.  Start tapping.  Just move through the tapping points.  As you do this tune into every aspect of this persons life.  See them making the choice.  See them living the life.  Pay very close attention to everything that comes up in you.  

Very common thoughts are:

• They had it so easy.  It is going to be harder for me.
• They have talent I don't have.
• I am jealous of their success.
• They make it look so easy.
• They didn't have the obstacles to get there that I didn't.

Because you are tapping while these emotion are coming up you are doing work on them.  If you are able to get very clear ideas about what your resistance is, then you can tap on it by name.  But until you get to the point where you know what these issues are, it is enough to just tune into someone else living the choice you are considering.  By tapping on these sorts of emotion, once again you are clearing out the noise that is making hard for you to make the choice.

The way you can do this type of cleaning is to go through the exact same process, but this time see yourself living the choice.  See yourself making the choice.  See how you feel making the choice.  See how you feel while living the outcomes of your choice.  See how the people in your life are react to the choice you have made.  Hear what they say.  Read their minds.  Make sure you see it working out it is working out to the best outcome possible. 

As you do this it is very likely there are the types of thoughts that will arise:

• I could never really do that.
• People are going to think I am a jerk because I are doing what I want.
• People are going to going to think I think am better than them.
• People are going to be jealous of me.
• I am not talented enough to do that.
• I am going to look so foolish when I fail.

Again, as you are able to name specific fear, anxieties, and limiting beliefs you can tap on them directly.  But as long as you are feeling the emotion, even if you can't name it and you are tapping at the same time you are going to be cleaning up the noise that is making hard for you to make a choice.

Be Persistent
Often times the roots of our fears and anxieties about making big changes in our life are very deep.  I would recommend if you are going to engage in this process to do it everyday for a number of day in a row.  You might even what to do it right up to the moment you make the choice.  This will help to ensure you are approaching every new worry or anxiety that might arise, as you get closer to the decision.

Over time if you do this you will find that there is less and less noise in the decision making process.  Instead over time there is going to more and more clarity.  Are you going to get to the point where every choice you need to make is obvious?  Probably not, but the more noise you clear out to more likely you are going to her the voice of inspiration.  As you hear and follow this voice of inspiration you will end up, almost effortless in the place you need to be.

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