Some people find it difficult to name their emotions, remember their pasts, or identify their self-limiting beliefs. But what they can recognize are the self-sabotaging behaviors they engage in whenever they near, or sometimes even attempt, to reach a goal.
If you are one of these people, you can still benefit from EFT by tapping on the exact behavior you wish to overcome. For some people, tapping on the behavior reduces the impulse to act. Others will find that in addition to reducing the impulse, tapping on the self-sabotaging behavior will actually help them to remember past events or identify the self-limiting beliefs that underlie the self-sabotaging behavior. If you find this is true for you, remember to keep a record of everything that comes up so that you can tap on it at a later time.
Step I: Identify, in the form of an “I” statement, the self-sabotaging behavior you would like to clear. For this example, we will use “I can not get to class on time.”
Step II: Say out loud the statement, “I can not get to class on time,” and then, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most true and 1 being the least, rate the truth of the statement to you at this moment. Write down the number that comes to mind.
Step III: While tapping on the karate chop point, repeat the following setup statement three times:
Even though I cannot get to class on time, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Step IV: Now tap through the remaining eight points on your face and body while repeating the reminder phrase, I cannot get to class on time. Tap each point seven times or the number of times it takes you to completely say the reminder phrase.
When you have finished tapping through all the points, take a deep breath and focus your attention on the belief. Once again, rate the truth of the belief to your mind. If the truth rating is higher than a three, do another round of tapping for I cannot get to class on time. Continue tapping until you have reduced the truth of the statement to a 2 or lower.
As before, pay attention in the moments after you complete a round of tapping to any emotions, memories, of self-limiting beliefs that arise. Try to tap for everything that comes up. Use your journal if you are finding you have a long list of issues to tap. This will help you to remember those issues so that you can tap for them at a later time.