The paper analyses Bratman’s planning theory of intention and action, trying to assess its merits in relation to contemporary debates about the constitution of agency. After discussing the limits of the so called belief-desire model in representing the agent’s standpoint, the paper focuses on how planning states can sustain an alternative view based on self-governing strategies allegedly capable of supporting a distinctive sense of personal continuity over time. It ends up with the discussion of some related concerns pertaining to metaphysics and diachronic rationality, in particular the apparent tension between synchronic and diachronic rational pressure over planning deliberation.