Nonconscious Goals Can Put You in a Bad Mood
by Kevin Hogan
Page 2
Are We in Charge of all Our Thoughts?
A lot of friendships, marriages and business deals would be saved if people simply understood that people aren't in charge of all their thoughts. (...not in charge of most of them...frankly)
Nor are people in control of all the words that come out of their mouth.
Literally, a person can say something really mean and nasty and absolutely not have intended that...or even THOUGHT that....EVER.
Now, typically when about two seconds has gone by and the brain starts to catch up with the words that are on their way to the listener's ears....at the point where you can't do a darn thing about it except prepare to duck..... your conscious mind generally becomes aware of what is happening.
There is an "oh my god, did I just really say that? I shouldn't have said that..."
And you're right, you "shouldn't have," but there would have been nothing you could do to prevent it. Your nonconscious, is, nonconscious. It doesn't think. It doesn't talk. It doesn't even communicate in any real linguistic sense to YOU (the part of you that is reading this).
Yet this is the you that is on autopilot most of the day.
Now, you might be reading this and thinking, "that's ridiculous."
It's scientifically proven.
There isn't just "evidence" for this.
It's factual.
It's how the brain works.
And this, of course, drives us crazy because we just got yelled at (for a couple of seconds) and called a dirty name, and the other person says they didn't mean it... they're sorry and it won't happen again.
All of that is true except the, "it won't happen again part."
Is This Preventable?
That's a toughie because the nonconscious mind doesn't accept verbal instruction, can't make promises and doesn't have an interest in the other person's welfare. It's totally reactionary.
That doesn't mean that the nonconscious mind can't be modified. But again, that is for another article.
The nonconscious mind often puts you in a first class good or bad mood and you might be irritable and grumpy or all giggly and no one knows what meds you're taking.
Research reported last week explains a LOT about what is happening....
A researcher at Ohio State University found that such negative "mystery moods" can occur when people fail at a goal that they didn't even know they had.
Tanya Chartrand, assistant professor of psychology, said such nonconscious goals can have significant effects on how we feel and act, and even on how well we achieve other goals.
"If you succeed at a goal you didn't know you had, you're in a good mood and don't know why," Chartrand said. "But if you fail at a nonconscious goal, you're put into this negative, mystery mood."
Chartrand discussed her recent research in Toronto at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society.
What exactly IS a Nonconscious Goal...?
Continue: Page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 
Kevin Hogan
Network 3000 Publishing
3432 Denmark #108
Eagan, MN 55123
(612) 616-0732
