There is no finishing line to perfection <33

Friday, January 25, 2008

~Subconscious Mind analysis~

Did this test 4 years ago and it was centred around friendship. Now...

The issues on your subconscious mind are most affecting your: Sex Life (lol). Funniest part of this test are questions which do not relate even .01% to sex.

The issues on your subconscious mind are most affecting your:Sex LifeYour sex life is made up of all of your sexual experiences, past and present. It includes all of your sexual desires, fears, and fantasies. Perhaps your conscious mind is aware that something is troubling you with regard to it or maybe you just have a vague sense that things don't feel quite right.However tuned in you are to your feelings about your sex life, you most likely have deeper issues that affect how you are subconsciously viewing your circumstances. Some issues are isolated to one realm of life, but generally an issue affects several areas at once, and to varying degrees.Your subconscious mind could be preoccupied with your sex life because of a wide variety of issues you aren't aware of. The following are some pretty common ones that people have around sex. Do any resonate with you?

Worrying that you aren't doing a good enough job in your sex life. You might feel like you can't adequately meet the needs of a partner. You may worry that you aren't giving enough.
Worrying that you aren't doing your best. You might feel like your sexual encounters don't possess the intimacy and connection that you feel you're capable of engaging in.
Worrying that you'll be betrayed. Especially if you've experienced difficulties in the past, you may subconsciously worry that your lover will betray you. You may worry that you're unable to be faithful or committed.
Worrying that you'll be rejected. When unchecked, this common fear can make you overly self-protective, which can make it difficult to relax in your sexual relationships.
Wishing you didn't make things so complicated. You may struggle with being more in your head than in your body during sex, making it difficult for you to relax and focus on the present moment.Did any of the issues you just read sound familiar? Once you recognize your subconscious concerns, you'll most likely be better able to find resolution. Follow the steps below and get in touch!

1. Begin writing a list of issues you think might be affecting you in the area of your life that is experiencing some trouble.
2. Consider your scores on the core issues discussed in the "Issues impacting your subconscious" section. Did you score high on any that are affecting the challenging area of your life?
3. Choose one issue to focus on.
4. Bring the issue into your conscious mind in a variety of ways. Leave a note on your bathroom mirror to remind yourself; meditate on where the issue came from and how it impacts your life; talk about it with a friend or partner.
5. In a month or two, ask yourself how/if this issue is still impacting your life in that one area, and then consider whether it's been resolved in all areas of your life. If it still seems like the issue is affecting your well-being, you may want to enlist the help of a therapist. Once everything has shifted for the better, you may want to use the same techniques on other issues.

Though your subconscious mind is currently most preoccupied with your Sex Life, there are actually seven additional realms of life it contends with. In this section, you'll find out how your other realms are impacted by learning what your relatively high or low score in that area means.

You scored 66 on the sex life scale. Your sex life is made up of all of your sexual experiences, past and present. It includes all of your sexual desires, fears, and fantasies.

Your test results indicate that circumstances in your sex life are taking up a good deal of your subconscious energy. You may wish that your sex life were more satisfying. Or perhaps you worry that you're not good enough in bed. Whatever your feelings are, it seems conflicts about sex are preoccupying your subconscious mind.

You would think that this area of our lives would get easier as we matured — not necessarily. Take Graham, for example: He was finding that he wasn't enjoying his sex life as much as he had in the past. Although he was attracted to his new partner, he found himself avoiding sex for the first time in his life. He claimed he was tired, or at least he thought that must be the problem. He blamed work and the weather and just about anything else he could think of, but inside he felt troubled. When he and his partner did have sex, he couldn't shut his mind off, and he found himself worrying over a bunch of little things, including whether or not his partner could tell that he was distracted. Finally, after trying self-hypnosis, Graham discovered that he had an issue around not being good enough in bed. His worries about not being able to adequately please his new partner — who had a good deal more experience than he did — were taking away his pleasure and excitement. With the help of his partner, he worked through this fear and was finally able to relax during sex, and both of them enjoyed themselves more.

You scored 31 on the family life scale. This realm concerns the people you rely on most on a daily basis or in difficult times. This could be your family of origin — your parents — or your adult family, including your partner and/or your children.

Your relatively low score in this realm indicates that your family life is not taking up too much of your subconscious energy. For those who are preoccupied with family, there is often a problem that's causing anxiety. Also, some people feel their family life is less than satisfying, or they worry a lot about their families. These concerns take up a lot of energy, and this can cause unconscious stress. It seems, however, that you feel pretty good about your family life.

Though we typically depend on our families for love and support, certain circumstances can make our Family lives difficult. For example, Tara works full-time and has a partner and two children. All of these things are very important to her. Whenever she was at work, however, she felt distracted and mildly anxious. This was hard to understand since everything there was going smoothly and she was happy with her job. In addition, she slept poorly at night, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

A friend suggested that Tara begin freewriting — anything that came to mind she should put down on the page. Through this activity, Tara identified her unconscious issue of not being good enough. While this issue impacted many areas of Tara's life, she was particularly worried that she wasn't being a good enough mom or spouse. This fear was causing Tara to feel drained, which made her less present when she came home from work. Initially, she thought she was simply tired from work, which then made her more fearful that she was neglecting her family. Once she was able to resolve these fears, she found that she actually had much more energy for her family at the end of her day.

You scored 27 on the love life scale. Your love life revolves around your romantic partners. Whether you have a committed partnership, you're casually dating, or you're single without prospects, your love life concerns your romantic hopes and needs.

Your relatively low score indicates that your love life isn't taking up a lot of your subconscious energy. People who get a high score in this area are often longing for a jumpstart, whether that means a new sweetheart or some quality time with their current partner. They may be experiencing some kind of changes and these can be emotionally draining. For whatever reason, some aspect of their love lives feels dissatisfying, whereas for you, things seem to be satisfactory.

It's no wonder that most of the songs on the radio are about love — it's a complex, yet marvelous thing we are always trying to understand better. Take Beth, for example: She worked incredibly long hours, and blamed her nonexistent love life on this. While her friends offered to set her up, she always made the excuse that she didn't have time. The interesting thing was that Beth's performance at work was starting to slip. Even her boss suggested she take a bit of time off. Beth couldn't figure out what was happening, because she was actually very happy with her job, even though she could see from time to time that she might be taking her commitment to it a bit too far. What she didn't know was that her subconscious mind was actually worrying over her love life, specifically around her fears of betrayal. Her last relationship had ended with a nasty breakup that involved infidelity, and ever since Beth had immersed herself in her career to avoid facing her feelings about that betrayal. Though this issue affected other areas of Beth's life, she was particularly worried that she'd again be betrayed by a romantic partner. This fear was causing Beth to feel distracted at work, leading to mistakes that she'd never made in the past. By identifying that it was in fact her subconscious issues around betrayal that were taking up so much of her mental space, she found she was able to focus on and face up to this issue. Eventually, she found that she was able to work fewer hours and still excel at her job. She used her extra time to start pursuing a more fulfilling love life.

You scored 24 on the health scale. The condition of your health impacts you on a daily basis, but is also responsible for how you experience nearly all aspects of life. Your past ailments, your present condition, and your general fears about your well-being are all a part of this realm.

Your relatively low score in health indicates that this realm isn't preoccupying your subconscious mind all that much. If it were, you could expect to feel obsessed about your health, perhaps because of a chronic injury or illness. Many of those who score high in this realm worry that they aren't healthy enough. It could be that their personal or family medical histories are leading them to have these health concerns. Whatever it is, some aspect of their health is preoccupying their subconscious minds, whereas yours seems content with this realm of your life.

What do we have without our health? Our health is extremely important to us and yet many of us live in denial and don't take care of ourselves. Take Stan, for example. He had always been a physically fit person. He'd read health magazines while running on the treadmill each night after work, and this was before he went to lift weights! His low-fat, low-carb, high protein special diet was so precise that he weighed his portions on a scale. He took tons of different vitamins and supplements each month, depending on what the magazines recommended. And then, one day, Stan stopped everything. He couldn't explain it, but all he wanted was to lie on the couch and eat pizza. This continued night after night after night. He was starting to consider canceling his gym membership. He knew his behavior was extreme, but he just couldn't do it all anymore. When he called to cancel his routine physical and didn't ask to reschedule, his doctor called him back with concern. She knew that Stan was a bit of a fitness extremist, and he never missed the opportunity to ask her health questions. Stan told her what was going on, and she suggested he see a therapist to get to the bottom of it. After several sessions with a therapist, which included hypnotherapy, Stan discovered that he was confronting his issues about making his life too complicated. For him, everything had always been an all or nothing proposition. With the help of therapy, Stan was able to work through his issues and find his way to a happier, healthier middle ground.

You scored 12 on the financial scale. Your finances involve everything having to do with money: your bank account balance, your debts, and your investments. Believe it or not, many of your financial hopes and fears can impact your subconscious mind.

Aside from money being necessary to take care of yourself, it has also always been assigned a certain status in our lives, and this can be stressful. Take Jake, for instance. He had a good job that had brought home a big paycheck for many years, though he was thousands of dollars in debt, and he had little savings to speak of. He always made excuses for why the state of his finances was so bad: He lived in an expensive city, he was still paying off student loans, and he was still just getting off the ground in his job. But when even his friends who made less money than he started talking about buying homes, he started realizing that he was in terrible financial shape. What was really holding him back if it wasn't the amount of money he was bringing home? He started doing freewriting, not just about his finances, but about where he was in life in general. After some practice, he discovered that he actually had a deep fear that he wasn't living up to his potential. This seemed to impact many aspects of his life, including his finances. By making his subconscious fear conscious, he was able to set more concrete goals, including a budget.

You scored 4 on the personal growth scale. This is the area most related to your general hopes and aspirations about life. Your continued self-improvement in relationships, career, finances, and health, as well as your ability to identify and realize your life purpose, are all connected to your personal growth.

Your test results indicate that your unconscious isn't concerned with your action around personal growth. Those who score high in this realm feel stuck in their lives, wondering what their next step should be. Many feel trapped, like they don't have the ingenuity to make a change. They may worry that they don't have enough time or energy to devote to improving themselves or developing your hobbies. For some reason or another, their subconscious is preoccupied with their lack of personal growth, whereas yours seems to be satisfied with this realm of your life.

Taking time out for personal growth and improvement can seem impossible, even though we know that it's incredibly necessary to explore our curiosities. Take Jenny, for example — she was depressed. She felt stuck in just about every area of her life: She wasn't getting along well with her family, her love life was nonexistent, and her job paid poorly (and on top of that, bored her to tears!). She wanted to change, but she didn't have the first idea where to start or what she wanted. All she knew was that she was profoundly unhappy and unsatisfied. Finally, she started freewriting in her journal for fifteen minutes a day. At first, her writing was just full of complaints and excuses. But then one day she struck upon her deepest issue: She was afraid she'd never live up to her potential. Ever since she'd dropped out of school, she'd been drifting through her life without a purpose. She continued to write in her journal until she came up with actual dreams and goals, as well as a plan for how to implement them.

You scored 2 on the friendship scale. Your friendships are the platonic relationships you have with people of your choosing. Healthy friendships offer us love and support outside of that which we get from family, romantic partnerships, and our sexual partners.

Your test results indicate that your friendships aren't draining very much of your subconscious energy. Those who score higher in this realm tend to feel dissatisfied with their current circle of friends, perhaps because they have differing interests. Some may be in arguments with their closer friends, or some may simply be longing for more fulfilling connections throughout their social lives. Whatever the exact circumstances, their subconscious minds are picking up on some trouble in their friendship realm, whereas yours seems content.

We are social beings and so we typically find it important to nurture and maintain friendships, but sometimes that's easier said than done. For instance, Catrina had just moved to a new city for work, and she didn't know anyone in town. She'd thought she'd be able to meet new people easily since there seemed to be so many her age in her office. But when no one reached out to her during her first week on the job, she started to pull herself inward. She told herself she was focusing on her job, which was demanding and new. But at night, Catrina found that she had terrible nightmares about strangers calling her names and chasing her down the street. The dreams got increasingly distressful until she finally decided to try some dream analysis techniques. Catrina eventually realized that she was experiencing an immobilizing fear of rejection. She could begin to see the pattern so clearly: The more afraid she became, the more closed off to people she became; the more closed off she became, the more her co-workers avoided her. Finally, she had to face her fears by inviting her co-workers out to lunch and starting to make herself more available. It was scary at first, but over time she started to make some friends, and a lot of her fears dissipated.

You scored 1 on the work life scale. Your work life involves what you do to make money, as well as any aspirations you have for your current and/or future careers. Issues in your work life may be related to the actual work itself or to relationships you've formed with your boss or your co-workers.

Your test responses reveal that your subconscious issues aren't affecting your work life very much. Those who got a higher score than you in this realm of life may be dissatisfied with their careers or may find that their work isn't as challenging or interesting as they'd like. They possibly feel drained by the day-to-day demands of their job. This may be because things aren't going as well at work as they'd expected, and their subconscious mind is struggling to figure out the next step they should take. For some reason, some aspect of their work lives is preoccupying their subconscious, though they may find that consciously they're reluctant to think or talk about the problem. Your subconscious, on the other hand, seems content in regard to this realm of your life.

For many of us, work is a realm that can bring up lots of issues around performance and this is stressful because work is where we also make the money that keeps ourselves and our families cared for. Irene, for instance, was having a hard time at work. She constantly felt distracted, making it hard for her to keep her deadlines. Her workplace was pretty competitive, and rather than rising to the occasion she felt like she was just slipping further and further behind. Her boss had spoken to her several times about her performance, but she insisted that she could handle all of her projects, even though she knew she was sinking more than swimming. She was getting so anxious that she couldn't sleep through the night, which in turn made it even harder to concentrate in the morning. She knew that her job was stressful, and that her work environment wasn't the most supportive, but there seemed to be something more than that going on. To find out, Irene started journaling each time she got stuck at work. After ten minutes of freewriting, she was often able to clear her mind and get back to work. One of the issues that she stumbled upon during this practice was her fear of rejection. She already knew she was a shy person, but her journaling helped her to see how her fear of rejection was giving her boss and her co-workers too much power over her state of mind. She tried to refocus her energy on doing what she thought was her best, rather than on trying to please them and prevent them from rejecting her.

Issues impacting your subconscious mind

All of us live with core issues that impact the way we think and feel. Because many of those issues are subconscious, we may never have had the opportunity to address them. If we were more conscious of them we could begin to heal old wounds and free up our minds for more productive and nurturing beliefs.

Tickle has analyzed your responses and determined how strongly these five core issues resonate with you. The higher your score, the more likely it is that the issue is having an impact on your life.

Do you ever feel inadequate?
Your subconscious is moderately preoccupied with feeling you're not good enough. Typically, feeling inadequate stems from feelings of shame and difficulties with self-confidence. Identifying the origin of this issue with the help of freewriting, self-hypnosis, or dream analysis (see explanation of techniques below) is a good first step toward alleviating these feelings.

Do you ever worry that you're not doing your best?
Your subconscious is moderately preoccupied with issues about your potential. People who score high on this issue may be suffering from unrealistic expectations about themselves, or they may be afraid to go for what they really want. Freewriting — one of the techniques discussed later in your report — can help you discover how this issue is holding you back and help you to identify realistic and attainable goals.

Do you ever feel distrusting?Your subconscious is moderately preoccupied with issues of trust. People who are wary of others, can typically trace their distrust back to times or situations in which they were betrayed by friends or loved ones. Dream analysis is a good way to analyze this issue and discover exactly why we're afraid of trusting others.

Are you afraid of being rejected?Your subconscious is moderately preoccupied with rejection. Typically, this issue is exacerbated when you take too much stock in the opinions others have about you. Building self-esteem and nurturing yourself can take some of the intensity out of this fear.

Do you ever wish you didn't make things so complicated?Your subconscious is moderately preoccupied with feeling you make things more complicated than you need to. The next time an area of your life feels like one big ordeal, try freewriting about the issue; write down all of your feelings and fears. Once you've got it all down, try to prioritize the issues and select one or two of the most pressing, and then just address those to start.

Mysteries of the unconscious mind

Because your subconscious mind is difficult to access directly though your conscious mind, it's difficult to know for certain what's going on in the deepest recesses of your psyche. Sometimes, though, the subconscious speaks up and makes a brief appearance in your conscious awareness. Once you learn to notice these intrusions of the subconscious, you can use this information to help you make decisions in your conscious mind.

Did I say that?
Have you ever meant to say one thing, but then said something else entirely? When you call someone by the wrong name, for instance, is that just a mistake, or is it actually a call from your subconscious mind? Many dub these errors in speech and writing "Freudian slips" as Sigmund Freud used them to gain insight into information he believed his patient was repressing. Consider that your accidents may actually be a moment of insight into your most concealed, conflicting desires. Write the incident down next time it happens and give some thought to what it might mean.

Have a hunch?
Sometimes you get a "gut" feeling about a person or situation. Maybe you think you're applying for the job you've always wanted, but once it's offered to you, you sense that something's not right about the situation. Some believe this intuition comes from your subconscious mind, which is a storehouse of valuable information, not all of which your conscious mind has access to. Learning to quiet your mind and trust your intuition is one of ways you can gain a deeper connection to your subconscious wisdom.

Subliminal messages
These are considered any information you absorb below a certain level of conscious awareness. While researchers differ in their opinions about the effectiveness of subliminal messages, many studies indicate that there are potential benefits to incorporating information into your subconscious minds. For instance, some studies have shown that exposing patients to anti-smoking subliminal messages during elective surgery have helped a good number of patients reduce or quit their smoking habits by the one-month post-surgical appointment. By introducing the appropriate subliminal messages, the powerful subconscious mind can influence the conscious mind to respond positively.

Tapping into your subconscious
Now that you're somewhat aware of what your subconscious is potentially capable of as well as what it's currently preoccupied with, read about some techniques that are designed to access that valuable part of your brain.

Dream interpretation
A number of famous pioneers in psychology had hypotheses about what dreams mean. Freud believed that dreams are disconnected from conscious reality, and that they are indicators your deepest subconscious wishes and desires. He distinguished two levels of dreams: the manifest level, which is the action in the dream, and the latent level, which is borne out in the symbolic elements. He found the symbolic elements the most informative about the workings of the subconscious, and that's what the technique below should help to access.

Carl Jung also studied dreams. There are many different techniques you can use to interpret your own dreams and illuminate your deepest motives and desires, but the next time you have a troubling or confusing dream, try Jung's direct association technique:
In the center of a large, blank sheet of paper, write down the most compelling image or element in your dream. Maybe it's a body of water or an animal.
Write down the first word or phrase that comes to mind when you think of that aspect of your dream.
Continue writing down the words or phrases you associate with that image. For example, if the central element you started with was the sun, and the first word you thought of was "bright," the second word or phrase you write down should also be associated with the sun.
Do this process as quickly as possible, without stopping to think or consider too much. The more conscious thinking you do, the less likely you'll be able to access your subconscious associations during this exercise.
Once you've run out of associations, review the words you've written down, and consider how these might connect with what you already know about the circumstances in your life in your conscious mind.

Self-hypnosis
Hypnosis is a deep state of mental relaxation that allows you greater access to your subconscious mind. Early on, before Freud became more focused on free association, he used this technique with his patients to uncover their unconscious issues and desires. You can hypnotize yourself using a number of techniques, but first try the following simple steps:
Sit in a quiet place where you won't be disturbed.
Close your eyes and inhale and exhale ten times, slowly and deeply.
Tell yourself the following, filling in the blanks for yourself: "I'm going into this trance to help my subconscious mind _________." (For example, "believe I'm a good person, just the way I am.")
Count backwards from 20. When you reach 1, look around inside your mind and see who is there and what you see. Allow your mind to flow freely.
When you're ready to come back into your conscious mind, start counting up from 1. When you reach 20, take a deep breath, open your eyes, and examine what you've discovered in your conscious mind.

Freewriting
Freud used the technique of free association with his patients. By having them speak freely about whatever happened to come into their minds, regardless of whether it seemed related to anything significant, Freud believed he could uncover their underlying problems and their subconscious conflicts. You can simulate your own version of this technique through the process of freewriting:
Sit down with a notebook and a pen or pencil.
Choose a topic that you want to know more about (perhaps the realm of life that you're struggling with the most).
Set a timer for fifteen minutes.
Once the timer starts, write continuously for the entire time. Do not stop to think. Don't worry about punctuation or grammar or sense. Just keep your pen moving and write everything and anything that comes to mind.
Once the timer goes off, sit back and read what you've just written. Does the content seem to focus on anything in particular? Are there interesting repetitions? What is the tone of adjectives you've used?
Now consider what's going on in your life.

History behind the test
Tickle has adopted its central theory for this test from the work of both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The basic theory they agreed on and that many other psychologists and psychoanalysts continue to agree on is that the subconscious has an enormous impact on the thoughts and feelings we have about our lives.

Freud, the father of modern psychology, saw the mind as divided into three sections: the Id (our instinctual, childlike unconscious), the Ego (our conscious mind), and the Superego (the moral link between our conscious and subconscious mind). According to classical Freudian theory, the subconscious mind stores repressed memories. Using dreams, free association, and other psychoanalytic techniques, Freud attempted to make conscious his patient's forgotten memories, which he believed were closely linked to repressed desires experienced during various stages of childhood development.

Jung, Freud's preeminent student, used Freud's ideas as a jumping-off point. He saw the subconscious mind as being divided into two separate parts: the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. Jung's personal unconscious, much like Freud's unconscious, is comprised of one's repressed or forgotten memories. While these memories revolve around the more significant people and experiences of one's life, Jung saw the personal unconscious as the superficial layer of the unconscious mind. The collective unconscious was the deeper and more significant layer, which he felt was ancestral and shared by all people throughout time, though not everyone could access it. Jung believed that dreams, symbols, and a specific group of universal archetypes were the key to uniting the collective unconscious. When Jung published his book Psychology of the Unconscious, which demonstrated Jung's departures from Freud's theories on the unconscious mind, Freud ended his relationship with Jung.

Both Freud and Jung continued to study the parts of the subconscious mind using their differing frameworks, and they both individually continued to influence countless others in their field. And still today, their influence continues, though many psychologists and psychoanalysts have updated or altered their theories. Regardless of their feelings about the specific theories of Freud and Jung, however, most contemporary psychologists agree that the subconscious holds a lot of insight into the thoughts and feelings we have about our lives.

On Pointe @)~~

3:13 AM