The stage that follows self-knowledge and self-mastery is that of transformation, of change. “After the assessment of the conscious aspects of the personality and the exploration of the unconscious – and generally after the use of some techniques for the preparation of the patient, such as the training of the will and exercises in self-identification and visualisation – comes the right moment for a definite planning of the level of the psychosynthesis to be achieved.”(Assagioli, 1965) We have to decide what we want to realize; what we want to become. The experience of being an I-that-wills finds its fundamental application precisely in the planning, designing and implementing of our ideal model.

One of the basic conditions for the realisation of one’s personal psychosynthesis – i.e., the implementation of the ideal model – is careful planning and programming of one’s personal life. This planning must be carried out according to the same general rules and techniques that apply to any other kind of planning. Let us examine them briefly:

• To formulate clearly and precisely the goal to be achieved.
• To assess the feasibility of a given plan; its practicability.
• To establish appropriate collaborations.
• To recognize and establish the proper sequence of the various phases.
• To cultivate a trifocal vision that simultaneously considers: the distant goal; the intermediate stages from the starting point to the destination; the next concrete step.
• A fundamental requirement is flexibility of the plan (its capacity to be modified and adapted).
• Achieving all this requires reflection and a sense of proportion – in one word: wisdom.

We must also be careful to include in the process, the phases of elaboration and gestation, allowing them the time they need, without interference. Speaking of planning may risk conveying a rigid and mechanical idea of what a self-directed inner and outer life should look like. But the psychosynthetic ideal is always an ideal of harmony and, as such, it gives ample space to aspects that are far from obsessive, such as inspiration, intuition, unconscious processing, and creativity. We must remember that, in this sense, planning aims to stimulate and support the process of growth and maturation, and facilitate continuous dialogue between all parts of us, rather than seeking to avoid our fear of the unknown and of the unpredictable.

For more:

• Know, Love, Transform yourself (Vol. II) – (pp. 15-20)  Buy now
• Know, Love, Transform yourself (Vol. I)  Psychosynthesis books – Buy now
• The Way of Psychosynthesis, Synthesis Insights (pp. 263-272) – Buy now