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Minimum Tolerance
Why it matters?
Our body is always releasing hormones to keep us as level as possible (homeostasis).
When ‘levelled’ (within our window of tolerance), we feel we are able to handle situations appropriately without falling into states of hyper-arousal (anxiety, overwhelm, hyper-vigilance, etc). Within our window of tolerance, we are adaptable, able to self-regulate and manage triggers well.
This is where we can tap into the present moment, stay open and curious, and feel grounded with our emotions. Below this zone of tolerance are states of hypo-arousal — where we can be overwhelmed by a sense of passiveness, despair, numbness and or sense of being withdrawn.
Over time, this can lead to conditioned immobility, shame and depression, where we shut down and dissociate from internal fears or external stresses.
Expanding this window of tolerance takes both new perspective (what are my maximum and minimum patterns of tolerance towards my own behavior?) and capacity building (tapping into our challenge-skills balance to access more flow) — this exercise deals with the former. What are you no longer willing to tolerate to ensure you don’t fall into hypo-states of arousal and dissociate with the world?
How it works?
- Rate yourself from 1-10 on how you are cultivating these 8 areas of your life: (1 - poor attention / lacking, 10 - high attention / flourishing)
>> Mindset, Emotions, Relationships, Health, Wealth, Purpose, Growth, Spirituality.
- Note down a desired state for each of these areas.
- Note down a minimum level of tolerance you are willing to accept for each of these areas.
For example:
Health: no longer willing to tolerate sitting for 8 hours a day.
Wealth: no longer willing to save less than 30% of income for retirement.
Relationships: no longer willing to tolerate more than 1 week to go by without calling my parents.
- Pick the most important area to you right now that needs attention and set a new standard for yourself.
- Cultivate this minimum level of tolerance by visualizing the window of tolerance (see below) you need to expand to build more capacity here, so you can raise your baseline of tolerance.
Examples
Reset your standards of behavior by gaining clarity on your minimum level of tolerance in various area of life so that you can level up.
Sources:
Psychology Today: Expanding the “window of tolerance.”