Making a Mission Plan

Look at the Fears and Worries Checklist you filled out back in Module 1. With your parent, choose the new target fear that you would like to start working on. Your parent will help you decide which one you should target for the new mission plan! Then, write down your target fear on the “Brainstorming Mission Plan Steps” worksheet.

Now, work with your parent to pick a specific mission plan goal. This will be a specific activity that you want to be able to do by the end of the mission plan, like “use a public restroom” or “ask 3 questions in school.” Then, write down your mission plan goal on the “Brainstorming Mission Plan Steps” worksheet. Here are some guidelines to consider when choosing your mission plan goal:

• How clear is it – are there clear ideas for activities you can do to face this fear?
• Frequency – will there be frequent (ideally daily) opportunities to practice facing this fear?
• Significance – are you motivated to get over this fear?

Remember, mission plans are gradual. In other words, we do not expect you to wake up tomorrow and achieve the goal you wrote in the first step. What are some steps between now and your mission plan goal? Try to come up with super easy steps and then some tougher ones to get you closer to your goal. There is no set number of steps required in a mission plan, but they should cover the span of the anxiety scale.
 
Here are some tips to help you create steps for your mission plan: 

1. Choose practical steps that you can do on a regular basis.

Stand on a porch under the awning while it is raining outside. This is a good step if it rains where you live once or twice a week.

Versus:

Watch a video of a thunderstorm with the sound on. This is a good step to include if it rarely rains where you live, or as an easier step before working up to being in real rain.

2. Think about who is involved in the step (number of people, age, gender, the level of familiarity).

Practice giving a speech in front of 3 close family members. This step is easier because the people listening to the speech are familiar, and there are few of them.

Versus:

Practice giving a speech in front of your whole class. This step is more difficult because the people involved are less familiar and there are a lot of them.

3. How much time are you spending in the feared situation?

Pet a small dog for 10 seconds. This step is easier because you are spending less time doing the step.

Versus: 

Pet a small dog for 1 minute. This step is harder because you are spending more time doing the step.

4. Where will the step happen?

Washing my hands only ONCE for 20 seconds after using the bathroom at home. This step is easier because you have more control over how clean your home bathroom is.

Versus:

Washing my hands only once for 20 seconds after using the bathroom at the mall. This step is harder because you have less control over how clean a public bathroom is.

5. How much preparation will you have before the step?

Mom tells me 4 days before that we are going to a new grocery store this week. This step is easier because you have more time to prepare to go to a new grocery store.

Versus

Mom tells me in the morning that we are going to a new grocery store later that day. This step is harder because you have less time to prepare to go to a new grocery store.

6. How intense is the fearful item or situation in the step?

Go to the 3rd floor of a building and look out the window. This step is less intense because you are closer to the ground.

Versus:

Go to the 10th floor of a building and look out the window. This step is more intense because you are further from the ground.

Once you finish creating the list of possible steps for your mission plan, read back through them to make sure that they all relate to the same fear, are specific enough, and that you have enough opportunities to do them. Be sure to include specific details like the examples we included above, so that you know exactly what you will do on each step.
 
Sally is afraid that people will think badly of her, so she is afraid of talking to her peers. Her goal is to make a new friend at school... perhaps Rita and her friend group! They seem very nice. Sally and her mom thought about different ways that Sally could interact with Rita and her peers. They thought about the age of the person, the number of people, the length of the conversation, the topic of the conversation, and the level of familiarity with the person.

As a reminder, these are the steps that Sally and her mom came up with:

• Sally asks Rita if she wants to meet at the mall to hang out
• Sally asks her classmate, Rita, who she does not know well, to borrow a pencil
• Sally asks her good friend Joana to borrow a pencil
• Sally invites Rita for a sleepover
• Sally asks Rita if she wants to come over to her house to watch a movie together
• Sally texts Rita a funny meme
• Sally joins the rest of Rita's friends during lunch and makes conversation with the group
• Sally makes friendly chat with Rita during breaks
• Sally sits next to Rita during lunch

A 0 means that it does not scare you at all, and a 10 means that it is the scariest thing you could do. 

This is how Sally rated some of her steps:

Completing the scariest step should be your final goal! It can be helpful to transfer your possible steps onto post-its, notecards, or small slips of paper for this process, so they are easy to move around as you develop your mission plan. Also know that it is okay if you eliminate some steps during this process. 

Here is Sally’s plan:

Once you have put the steps in order of difficulty, reflect on the entire mission plan and make sure that no two steps in a row would be too big of a jump. For example, if your first two steps are rated 1 and 2 on the anxiety scale and the next one is a 6, you should go back and brainstorm some steps that will be harder than the first two, but easier than the one that is rated a 6. Also, make sure the first step of your mission plan is something you can try today or tomorrow. As you conquer your first few steps, you will begin feeling more confident about facing the bigger ones!

The biggest reward should go with the highest-rated anxiety, and the smallest reward should go with the lowest-rated anxiety.

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