Articles on EFT/PET and Corporate Work
Business owner moves his business to the next level
By Steve Wells
Stage 1: Removing Belief Barriers
I worked with a business owner whose wife and business partner was about to have a baby (their first). Since she had previously driven much of the business visioning, he felt pressure in taking on this role. He also had concerns about handling parenthood, managing the transition, and ensuring financial security for his family.
I began by working with him on the issues and fears that were paramount in the immediate term, primarily the pressure of feeling that the success or failure of the business was now pretty much in his court. I taught him EFT and we applied it to “this pressure”; “money worries”; “fear of coming changes” and several general issues that provoked anxiety for him. On each, he experienced some relief.
I then asked about his ultimate goals – both for his business and life. I had him go away and discuss with his partner what these were and I also recommended he read Napoleon Hill's book Think and Grow Rich. This book holds a tried and tested formula for personal success, which, when combined with EFT, represents IMHO an unbeatable combination. I knew that having read this, along with the daily tapping I had recommended, he would return with a new level of enthusiasm towards the future. He did and we went straight to work on setting a new vision for his business.
I should point out that in the area of goal setting and strategic business planning I think EFT has great potential. When we set goals, we are often confronted by limiting beliefs and negative feelings. I believe we need to be expansive in the initial stages, thinking without limits. I am most interested in getting to the big goals that people have been harbouring inside but holding back on. I want them to get into that free-flowing state where they can explore new realms and generate new possibilities. When most of us try to do this our current reality comes up to grab us. We then tend to only see the future through the present, and even if we do see advancement we tend to do so in an additive fashion rather than seeing our true potential for exponential growth. So during the early stages of goal setting is the perfect time to tap.
As with this gentleman, I usually warm up by asking people to identify any negative beliefs and other barriers they have to having, doing and being whatever they desire. And then we tap on them. We take whatever time is necessary to treat these, particularly identity beliefs. In this business owner's case, there were beliefs about not being smart enough, and not being strong enough. I asked him to make each statement and see how true it felt to him (eg. “I'm not smart enough”), and then we tapped on it, with him repeating the negative belief as we tapped each point (eg. “Even though I'm not strong enough”, “Even though I'm weak”). After a round or two of tapping, I had him make the statement again to see how true it felt. As is typical, after a few rounds of tapping his negative beliefs now felt less true.
I then had him identify a positive polar opposite belief (eg. In this case “I am strong”), and we tapped on this. We then interchangeably tapped on both positive and negative belief statements. As Pat Carrington outlined in a recent post this can be a powerful means of sorting out belief challenges. The reality for most people is that the negative and positive beliefs are both true and not true at the same time IN THEIR BODY. That is, they both FEEL true to some extent. Tapping on both sides eliminates the negative emotions attached to them, usually making the negative belief feel less true and the positive feel more true – or the client can then see how the positive belief either is becoming, or can become, more true. Sometimes the negative belief is accurate (eg. “I am an average golfer”). Tapping does not take this and make it untrue. What it does do is take the negative sting out of it, the bit where we get down on ourselves about it. It also loosens its hold, so that we no longer see it as a permanent reality.
Next, I sought to identify significant emotional events behind the business owner's negative beliefs. To do this, I asked him to identify where he learned his negative beliefs and we searched for early significant experiences to tap on.
I like Robert Cialdini's model (described in his book Influence) of beliefs as like tabletops with legs. The legs are provided by our past (reference) experiences. Some of the legs are big and fat and have roots! Knock these out and the tabletop isn't so stable, the belief is no longer so solid or firmly held. Knock enough of the key legs out and the entire tabletop isn't supported anymore. They can let it go. We identified some experiences for this gentleman in sports where he had not succeeded as well as he would have liked. Each was treated successfully using Gary's “run the movie” technique. He was then ready for some heavy duty goal setting – without the blocks.
Stage 2: Goal Setting
Once we had cleared the business owner's belief barriers to moving forward, I then took him through a goal setting process. This began with a free writing “splurge” where I encouraged him to explore all possibilities including ridiculous ones. *Especially* ridiculous ones. I like to encourage my clients to consider goals that are way beyond their present level of development. I want to see if they have a sleeping vision in their heart. They usually do.
I'm primarily interested in big goals because big goals not only inspire us, they also challenge us to confront our deepest doubts and fears and limiting beliefs. The act of setting a big goal brings these right to the surface. And there is great pleasure in removing the blocks using EFT and getting back in touch with your true purpose.
The second stage of goal setting (the way I practice it) is that of setting deadlines for your goals. This increases the heat because as soon as you set a deadline you are making a commitment. Many people are reluctant to set a deadline because then they experience pressure. I love to have people create that pressure then treat it using EFT. This is truly extending your limits, blowing out your comfort zone. It is wonderful to see someone take their goal from the quality of just wishing and hoping to taking the first step towards making it real by saying when they will achieve it by. Until you can say when it is difficult to start planning, and there is always part of you holding back. As soon as you can say when, you have an idea of how much will be required of you at each step along the way. Your goal can be broken down into realistic, achievable stages. This is the stage for realism and planning.
The third stage is to prioritise your goals. Decide which are the most important to you now. As with the business owner, I ask my clients to indicate which are their four most important goals for this year. He set goals for expanding his business, overcoming a particular block in his sport and handling the transition to parenthood.
The next step is to commit to achieving to your goals. I had the business owner cement his commitment by writing each of his main goals down as an “I will...”. There is a huge difference between saying “I'd like” or “I want to” or even “I aim to” versus saying “I will”. Many many people get hung up on this point. All the objections come up. Our doubt in our own abilities comes rushing in. And all of these things can be tapped on.
Take one of your goals, set a date for its achievement and write the goal down as a statement of definite intention beginning with the words “I will...”. I guarantee if your goal is a big one you will be met with a surge of doubt accompanied by a surge of excitement. If not, then maybe the goal is not for you. Maybe it is not big enough. Maybe it is not something you really want. If it is, energy arrives with the decision. This is where you take possession of your power. This is where you decide to live your life in your own way. This is where you test yourself. It's also where you encounter the most resistance. It is imperative at this point to identify all sources of resistance and treat them. This is where you become free to create the future.
We did this for the business owner once he had identified his goals. Each of his goals brought up some anxiety about heading into uncharted waters. Once we dealt with these fears using EFT, he started to become excited about the possibilities. His doubt was replaced by a new resolve, a solid feeling of confidence in his abilities. I call this state “100% YES!” Another word for it is congruency. I think it is the ultimate aim of all goal setting, coaching and therapy.
What was the overall outcome of this process? He was able to identify an area of growth for his business and embrace the opportunity if offered without experiencing any further internal blocks to taking action. He became more ready, willing and able to take on the challenge of parenting. He began to enjoy his sport more and achieved greater success, winning some key matches. And his business began to expand.
When I spoke to his wife a couple of months later she remarked at how strongly focused he had now become. This had allowed her to relax and direct her energies towards nurturing their child and they were clearly much happier as a result. I saw them recently. They are happily settled into parenting and happy with the direction their business has taken.
What has been the long-term result in their business? They have expanded and added a new centre to their two existing centres. I was in one of them a couple of weeks ago. It is very busy.
© Steve Wells
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EFT in Corporations
By Steve Wells
Over the past 6 years, I have used EFT in a large number of corporate organisations. I would like to offer the following insights for those intending to apply EFT in an organisational setting:
EFT "as is" is much too way out for the average corporate manager to accept without a great deal of consideration being given to pacing. Pacing means fitting it in with their belief systems and their views of the world. AND their view of what is important and useful. It does not matter how good it IS - it's their perceptions that are important.
There's plenty of research showing that people who have fun are more productive too but how much fun is in the average workplace? And how willing are most managers to embrace fun and games for their workers? Not many.
Even those managers who do accept EFT because they have been to a workshop often need help in structuring proposals so that the others in the organisation (eg The board) will be prepared to accept it.
I have typically integrated EFT into a presentation on stress relief, conflict resolution, and/or change management. These are the sorts of things that corporate people can identify with. They love things that teach them how to deal with difficult people and how to resolve conflict in the workplace. And this is often where we need to start.
When marketing EFT to corporations, we need to focus on what we can do for them in terms of solving their problems, rather than focusing on telling them about the technique - at least initially. This is my opinion, but as a member of National Speakers Association of Australia I have seen many examples of people who tried to market something they personally were sold on without considering the other person's needs and worldview. If you are not able to discuss the impact your work will have on improving productivity, boosting profits, bottom line results, etc, then in my experience you will be shown the door or not even allowed to enter it in the first place.
Many if not most organisations are suffering due to large amounts of stress and anxiety caused by restructuring, work changes, uncertainty about the future, etc. They are full of conflict, communication challenges, and frustrated groups of managers and workers who are "at each other's throats". In other words, they provide the perfect environment for a bit of tapping - and if we can introduce it to them in the right way we can really help the organisation and the people in it to move forward. But we need to present it in context.
I introduced EFT to one organisation recently as part of a 5-module training series a colleague and I were conducting for vehicle examiners. These guys (they were all men) regularly deal with emotionally charged situations as people who have to have their vehicles examined are often anxious and frustrated about the situation they find themselves in. They do not want to be there. Not only that, this government department has been threatened with outsourcing and restructuring for the past 3 years and the workers were in a constant state of uncertainty and anxiety about their jobs. Initially, they were cynical about even doing any training - they felt we'd been sent in to prepare them for losing their jobs!
We had contracted to provide training in change management, customer-focused communication, conflict resolution, and stress management. Of course, the section on stress management is where I introduced the EFT - as one of several strategies they could use to manage and reduce stress. Of course, I knew that the EFT would do more for them than all the other techniques combined, but I have found that groups such as this more readily accept the EFT if it is presented along with other techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, etc. Then once I have taken them through what I see as the formalities, we can really get into the technique.
Having introduced the EFT in an initial stress management session, we were then able to include it in a separate follow-up module as a stand-alone technique. In fact, they requested it, having seen the value from the introductory session.
This follow-up session was held when staffing in the department was at a crisis point. We had to work hard to get management to agree to hold the sessions because of the pressure that this put on the system. However, the manager we were working with could see the benefits of EFT, having experienced these benefits personally. He went in to bat for us with upper management and they reluctantly agreed to allow us to proceed.
I ran the session and had each of the participants identify all of the situations at their work that were causing them emotional stress. They really got worked up, and included things such as aggressive customers, long queues, run-ins with bosses and co-workers, frustrations with departmental inaction, anxiety over the future of their jobs ... all the stuff which you'll see daily in workplaces all over the world causing untold amounts of stress, downturns in productivity, increases in stress-related illness and injury, and heaps of angst amongst workers and management alike because it is not being acknowledged or managed at all. (Read: There is opportunity here!)
I had them each describe their most intensively upsetting negative situations and stresses at work, then we started tapping on them as a group, stopping occasionally to focus on individual issues that were common, or which were particularly intense, and then sent them away with homework to apply the process on additional issues and aspects. We did this with all four groups.
What was the result of a morning's tapping with each of these four groups? They were able to manage a difficult time at their workplace with flying colours. The manager later wrote to me that, although the decision to proceed with the training at this time was a difficult one: "in hindsight we could not have planned it any better, our people who initially were having difficulty in managing change responded well during the staffing crisis. The follow up training allowed them to discuss issues that were actually happening to them each day in the workplace, (and as a result) they all responded to the challenge and allowed us to progress through a very difficult time."
He further reported improvements in both attitude and service delivery levels, along with an overall sense of achievement. The improvements were recognised "across all areas".
And all this from a little bit of tapping!
However, I would like to point out a few things that I feel were crucial to achieving these results:
Firstly, we had a rapport with these guys that was developed over several sessions of working with them. I have no doubt that had we introduced the EFT in the first session when we were dealing with their mistrust of all training and cynicism towards the training process that we would never have got as far as we did. Since we did have rapport they were prepared to go much further in discussing their hurts and upsets than even I expected. It was wonderful to have such openness and honesty, and to be able to follow this with real healing.
Secondly, the way we got into this organisation was by convincing a key manager that we could provide solutions to some of HIS problems. We then got on-side with the other managers in a separate session to discuss THEIR problems and needs, and followed this up with the workers (I call it talking to people and listening to them, but for the sake of the exercise we called it a needs analysis. The difference is that we
wrote it down, put it into a report and got to charge them for it!) Then we gave them what they asked for in terms of the training. We have used this needs analysis strategy several times now with excellent results each time.
There is much much more I could say here but this article is already way too long. I'll write again later about a program at Alcoa where we taught EFT to over 800 workers, the great opportunities and needs I see for this work in workplaces everywhere, ideas on how to structure proposals and get to meet key people, etc, etc...
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