Imagine a day where your mornings are peaceful, smooth, and you never forget where you put your keys! Imagine your school or work day running like clockwork with homework or presentations always on time. Imagine your evenings as a time for relaxation, fun and and uninterrupted sleep due to something called BALANCE in your life.
Sounds pretty cool, right? It may even sound unattainable to some of you… but it’s not! What’s one of the keys to creating balance in your life? The answer is removing tolerations that are bogging you down. It’s a simple exercise, and if done on a consistent basis, creates a whole lot of happiness in your life.
What are tolerations? It’s a fancy coaching term for energy drains. Tolerations are basically things we tolerate on a day to day basis which we’ve learned, unfortunately, to live with. They can be as simple as never having a fully charged phone to putting up with super toxic people in your life. The scary part about tolerations, however, is how much they hold you back. The beauty of removing them is it’s unbelievable how EASY life begins to flow and the magical things which come into your life once there is space!
We find tolerations in several areas of our lives:
Home environment
Work environment
Financial areas
Personal relationships
Self Care
Food, nutrition
Technical equipment
Personal characteristics
Personal products
Toleration examples:
Cluttered bedroom
Sticky notes everywhere
Always late for class
Never paying bills on time
Dirty kitchen
Toothbrush needs to be replaced
Issues with computer/printer/phone
Aches and pains
Friends always late
Clothes that don’t fit
Needy friends
Can never find your keys
Can never find a pen or paper
Noisy neighbors
Hair dryer not working right
Never have enough food in fridge
Not enough healthy snacks
Despise paying bills
Always running out of money
Moldy food in fridge
Beauty routine in morning takes too long
Never enough hot water in shower
Difficult manager
Issues with friends
Issues with family
Car is a mess
Chain on bike always falling off
Computer or I Pad screen always dirty
Flowers and plants always die
Kitchen sink always filled with dishes
Home never clean
Not enough room for car or bike in garage
Significant other doesn’t call or show up when they say they will
Not happy about being overweight
Lack of strength physically
Lack of strength emotionally
Low self confidence
Not enough sleep
Unhappy with hairstyle
Beauty products not doing the trick
Not enough alone time
Don’t have an extra car or house key
Schedule forces getting up too early
Needy relatives
Eating too much sugar or salt
Drinking too much alcohol
Negative attitudes from people in your life
Low energy levels
Poor grades
Smoking
Lack of boundaries with people
Co dependency
Too much junk email
Too much time on Facebook
Unmade bed
Moldy shower
Disrespectful roommate
Not enough exercise
Not drinking enough water
Not enough time with friends
Lack of fun
So if your life is feeling a bit out of whack and chaotic, give this simple exercise a try:
Find a quiet place and visualize each of the nine areas of your life listed above. As you do, write down all the tolerations within each area.
Commit to removing 3-5 tolerations per week over the next month.
Watch the magic happen as your life feels more in control and balanced. Good luck!
