Quiz | Science for the Journey

Quiz: What’s Your Reaction Reflex?

How do you react to sticky situations? This quiz will help you recognize and get you to the tools to navigate life with more ease and effectiveness.

For each of the following challenging situations, pick an answer that is closest to what you would think. It’s quite possible none of these would match your thoughts exactly, but pick one that seems more likely than the other ones listed.

Your boss doesn’t seem too happy with the work you just turned in. Your thoughts tend to run along the lines of:

A. I should have done that differently. I should ask her to let me do it over.

B. I knew she wouldn’t like it. No matter what I do, she isn’t happy.

C. She wasn’t happy with the last one either. I’m going to get a bad review. There has been talk of cutbacks, I’ll probably lose my job.

Your friend has seemed distant lately, taking longer to answer your texts and being too busy to make plans with you. You tend to think:

A. I shouldn’t have asked her to go out to eat. Maybe I should have picked something more fun.

B. Ugh. Another flaky friend. I’m going to stop texting. She’s obviously not interested in making time for me.

C. I wonder if I offended her. Maybe I talked too much about myself the last time we were together. She probably doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore. I’m already alone so much now I’ve lost the last person I thought I could be myself with.

Your doctor has told you to lose weight but so far it isn’t coming off. You think:

A. I should be exercising every day. I shouldn’t go out to eat anymore. I should read every diet book and download a bunch of apps.

B. I’ve tried losing weight. It never works. Now, my health is in danger and there’s nothing I can do.

C. This is how it starts. Everyone in my family has weight related problems. Now I’m probably going to die of a heart attack.

You’re applying for a job and just learned there is more competition for it than you had anticipated. You think:

A. I have to get this. I’ve got to do everything I can. I have to talk to everyone involved and read up on them to know how to connect.

B. Now I probably won’t get it. Maybe it’s not even worth applying.

C. I’m never going to get this job. It was the only one I wanted. Now, I’m stuck in this dead end job that I hate- forever.

You are running late to meet someone and the traffic doesn’t seem to be moving. You tend to think:

A. I have to get there on time. I shouldn’t have taken this route. This traffic has got to move faster.

B. Of course there would be traffic. Now she’ll be mad at me and there’s nothing I can do.

C. This can’t be happening. She is going to be so mad. She’s going to think I’m a flake and not make plans with me anymore.

Reflex Reaction 2020

Your answers were mostly As: Anxious Reflex

From Anxious to Calm

This means that triggering situations in life, like the ones on the quiz, tend to cause you to have more of an anxious reaction. You may feel the need to get control of the situation and tend to be perfectionistic. Your brain gets into a very activated state with challenges. The limbic system is activated causing you to become more emotional and your nervous system is in more of an active, on edge state, sympathetic state; rather than a resting, calm, parasympathetic state. You may be able to achieve calm in yoga and meditation but find yourself knocked out of this state by triggering situations. The great thing is that there are many techniques that help you to stay in a calmer state, or get back there more quickly once you’ve been triggered. Click here for your free recording of one simple technique that can help. It’s a simple shift based on changing one word in your vocabulary and is a snippet of one segment of my audioprogram From Anxious to Calm.

Your answers were mostly Bs: Negative Reflex

From Down to Positive - Alicia Ruelez Maher piloting airplane

This means that triggering situations in life, like the ones on the quiz, tend to cause you to shut down, into a more negative or depressed state. This makes sense when you think of how the brain was designed to protect you. By shutting down your efforts where they won’t yield positive results, energy can be available for survival. However, in our modern world, this shutting down of energy makes you miss out on the joy that you deserve in life. By not embracing challenges you tend to miss out on opportunities.

The great thing is that there are many techniques that help you to stay in a calmer state, or get back there more quickly once you’ve been triggered. Click here for your free recording of one simple technique that can help. It’s a simple shift based on changing one word in your vocabulary, and it's a snippet of one segment from my audioprogram From Down to Positive.

Your answers were mostly Cs: Stressed Reflex

From Stressed to Empowered

This means that triggering situations in life, like the ones on the quiz, tend to cause you to become stressed. Often, this response occurs in those who have experienced some form of trauma in their lives or learned this reaction from others. Your brain tries to protect you in challenging situations by putting you on high alert. Adrenaline flows, the sympathetic nervous system is activated and, unfortunately, stress hormones start to wear on your body as whole. Perhaps you’ve found ways to relax, like yoga and meditation, but when faced with triggering situations, you are back into this high alert state. The great thing is that there are many techniques that help you to stay in a calmer state, or get back there more quickly once you’ve been triggered. Click here (link) for your free recording of one simple technique that can help. It’s a simple shift of recognizing your mind going into this activated state and altering your thoughts to a calmer one and is a snippet from one of the segments of my audioprogram, From Stressed to Empowered.

Quiz: What’s Your Reaction Reflex?

How do you react to sticky situations? This quiz will help you recognize and get you to the tools to navigate life with more ease and effectiveness.

​For each of the following challenging situations, pick an answer that is closest to what you would think. It’s quite possible none of these would match your thoughts exactly, but pick one that seems more likely than the other ones listed.

Your boss doesn’t seem too happy with the work you just turned in. Your thoughts tend to run along the lines of:

Your friend has seemed distant lately, taking longer to answer your texts and being too busy to make plans with you. You tend to think:

Your doctor has told you to lose weight but so far it isn’t coming off. You think:

You’re applying for a job and just learned there is more competition for it than you had anticipated. You think:

You are running late to meet someone and the traffic doesn’t seem to be moving. You tend to think:

For each of the following challenging situations, pick an answer that is closest to what you would think. It’s quite possible none of these would match your thoughts exactly, but pick one that seems more likely than the other ones listed.