Choose to be Happy - ACTION or EXPERIMENT Plans You've just been doing some Rational Self Analysis work and likely have identified some new alternative thoughts for yourself in relation to your situation. This lesson will show you how to put together an ACTION plan or an EXPERIMENT Plan. You may rightly ask, "How do I know which one to use?" The first issue to be firm on is WHY you are using them! Action or Experiment plans using any of the resources provided with the Choose to be Happy course, are for investing your new rational, alternative, balanced belief or thought to arrive at the new mood you desire instead of the debilitating mood or dysfunctional behaviour you are presently experiencing. IF your alternative or balanced thought appears to fit the info you've written in but does not seem believable to you, you can do a series of behavioural experiments to test out the new belief. IF your alternative or balanced thought work helps identify a problem to be solved, you can make an ACTION plan for solving the problem. Action plans are best written into your appointment book rather than a 'to do' list. Make an appointment with your action plan! Figure out what resources you'll need in terms of the use of time, effort, skills and materials as applicable. Figure out what possible blocks or problems could arise to frustrate your plan and think up some strategies to overcome them. Make sure you record how it went like a type of reviewing so that you can spot where you need to alter it if needed. You will be assigned an Action Plan and an Experiment Plan link in your personal start page OR you can use the formats in this lesson manually by printing them out. ACTION PLAN worksheet (Problem Solving) This form is for when you identify a practical or skills based problem when you do your journaling. The goal is to make an action plan for solving it. Take time to identify possible problems and develop strategies to overcome them. Keep a track of each time you try your Action plan and what progress you made with it. IF things don't work out, journal the issue to see what beliefs are getting in the way. THE GOAL of this ACTION PLAN is to: Write up your goal in specific terms not general. Your ACTION plan: Write it down so that if another person observes it you will be telling them, "This is what you will observe and experience. Your Timing for the Action: Make an appointment with your plan. To Do lists generally get neglected but if you've made an appointment with it, you've given it recognition and space. WHO will be affected by your plan?: Name ALL the people who will be directly affected by your Actions WHERE will you action it? : Explain the location in terms of a physical location or an area of life such as relationships with another or a group of people. Identify Possible problems what you can foresee that will block your Action Plan Identify who could possibly block your action happening. Think or obtain strategies for overcoming the problems: Explain in terms of: "This is how I will reduce or prevent any of the above blocks" PROGRESS REPORT: Give the Action Plan a rating on how effective it was (do not rate yourself!) out of 0 to 100% IF it is a plan to happen over a period of time keep a regular track and rate it at regular times. Click Here for ACTION PLAN form ============================================ EXPERIMENT PLAN WORK Experiment Plans for building confidence in a new thought involve first choosing an alternative or balancing thought that you do not yet fully believe. Write it in as the thought to be tested. Then (with help if needed) design an experiment to test the new belief. Following that PREDICT the outcome of the experiment (holding the new belief to be true). TIPS for success 1. Break up your experiments into small steps. Small steps are easier to do, and what you learn from each small step will help you make bigger steps using this alternative thought 2. You will need to do a number of experiments before you truly believe a new way of thinking about things. It's easy to believe a thing when the pressure is off, but by experimenting you're being pro-active in future proofing yourself with a thought that matches what is true. 3. Until you try an experiment you may not discover what really happens when you try something new. IF your experiment doesn't turn out as you hoped, it is time to problem solve, NOT QUIT. It helps you dig deeper to really find out what the core belief is. 4. WRITE down your experiments. This is why you're here using this form. Remember "Thoughts disentangle themselves as they move from the lips and down through the pencil tips". By recording them you improve the likelihood you'll learn from them. The New or Alternative THOUGHT to be tested Here you'll write in the alternative thought you arrived at with your RSA work. Ask "How much do you believe this new alternative thought at present?" Choose the confidence Level using the scale provided on the form. This is now where you take time to design an experiment, then identify possible problems and develop strategies to overcome them. To help you with this designing, ask yourself, "IF a person believes this, THEN what kind of things would they be free to do?" The answer will be relative to the hot thought you developed your alternative from. WRITE UP your Experiment (specific terms not general) Here you write down what your specific actions will be to test out the veracity of your alternative or balanced belief. Action is a good test as it will show you whether or not your new thought needs alteration, or whether it stands true. Like your ACTION plan make sure it is specific in terms of what it describes so that observers will recognise your description by the actions that match it. Predict what you believe your outcome will be: Remember you are testing the new belief not the old irrational one. If you've been self-damning yourself as a person and you're switching from a belief that failure proves you're a total failure type person, to a belief that all people make mistakes and success but neither completely describe me. And if your plan is to deliberately fail at something while you hold the new belief, you might predict that you'll be less disturbed than before. You carry out the plan and TEST whether its true. Write up possible problems you can see that will block my prediction coming true: Once again take time to spot possible blocks to your prediction coming true so that you do not give up on your new thought just because you did not spot such. Write up Strategies you could use to overcome the problems: Like your ACTION plan, you figure out IF - THENs. IF this happens… THEN I will counter it by… . This is good foundation for preparing relapse prevention plans later in your therapy or course. RECORD the OUTCOME of your experiment: After the carrying out of your experiment, you will fill in a report after you've done it. THREE self-questions Ask, "How much does the outcome support the thought that was tested?" Ask, "What is the level of my belief in the alternative after my experiment?" LAST question: WHAT did I learn from doing this experiment? Click Here for Experiment Plan form