You've learnt EFT, applied it to a few issues and hopefully have experienced some positive results. So what's next? How do you use EFT to facilitate real life changes? You may feel that you have so many issues to deal with, so many fears, anxieties and 'hang-ups' that you don't even know where to begin. What I am going to suggest to you is that you find a systematic method that's right for you, to work through all the core issues and trigger factors that are behind your various issues. Sounds like a big task? Well it is, but there are easy ways to approach this.

On Gary Craig's site he takes you through the Personal Peace Procedure which you can read about here. I recommend that you read the article thoroughly to get a good idea of how to work through all your possible core issues. The general gist of the Personal Peace Procedure is to make a list of every bothersome specific event in your life that you can remember (this should be a big list!), and then apply EFT to each and every event until there is no negative emotional reaction when you think of it. It is likely that you will have a long list to work through, so it is recommended that you start with the events that have the highest emotional intensity. Even though this seems like a daunting task I would really recommend you try the Personal Peace Procedure for yourself, as this is how you can make real changes with EFT. To quote Gary Craig: "Most of our emotional and physical problems are caused (or contributed to) by our unresolved specific events, the vast majority of which can be easily handled by EFT." Doesn't that inspire you to give it a go??

If you are still feeling overwhelmed at the thought of writing down every bothersome event in your life, then try one of the methods I suggest below to deal with your core issues.

Draw a time line

Take a sheet of paper and draw a horizontal line across it. At the left hand end of the line write the year of your birth, and at the other end the year it is now. Then going along the line mark in any significant events in your life that you wish hadn't happened, whether or not you feel a negative emotion about them now. Using this technique you may or may not end up with as many different events as you would have done by writing a list, but now they are in chronological order and it may be easier for you to locate the most intense ones and set to work on them with EFT.

If that still seems like an impossible task, or you cannot imagine a sheet of paper long enough for your particular time line, then try this instead.

Focus on one time period

With this more concise, but still effective method go back to your early formative years and either write a list or draw a time line for that period of time. For example you may choose from age 0 to 8, or if that is too early for you to remember vividly choose a later period of time in your childhood. And if you are really struggling to find significant events in childhood, take whatever period of time you feel is significant for you. For some people this is their teens, or even later. Once you have this shorter time period in mind, go through it thoroughly noting down each event and then applying EFT to each and every one. This will not take as long to do as the other suggestions above, but should still be effective in finding and resolving your core issues if you choose the right period of time for you.

However much time you devote and whichever method you choose, the way you apply EFT should be the same.

• Choose an event/memory to work on
• Name the event (e.g. when dad hit me)
• Name any emotion you feel when you think of it
• Apply EFT to this memory in the usual way