Low and High Thresholds

What does it take for you to do something you would not normally be out of your comfort zone?

Low and High ThresholdsWhat does it take for you to do something you would not normally be out of your comfort zone?


What does it take for you to do something you would not normally be out of your comfort zone?

In other words, what indicators do you need to see before you dive into the unknown? For some people, it takes a lot. It takes a lot of validation and assurance of security before they go into something that they have not tried before. Rarely do these type of people take risks that go against the current. The only times that they do take these “big leaps” is when they are assured by their close friends and family — aka people that they really trust — that this is the way to do things. These people have a very high threshold.

The other side of the spectrum are those that have a low threshold — aka they are often eager to dive against the current and simply looking for a cue that points them in this direction. They do not need much validation or assurance to give them the bode of confidence to get started. They will take “irrational” risks validated by minor cues.

Our thresholds are often activity specific — you may be really confident and have a low threshold in certain areas, whereas others it may be the opposite.

What is your threshold like?

In this podcast, “The Big Man Can’t Shoot,” Gladwell goes over this concept of thresholds in great detail.

“The Big Man Can’t Shoot” is a meditation on the puzzle of why smart people do dumb things — why excellence is such a difficult and elusive goal, even for the best-intentioned.

Let me know what you think 🙂


Originally published at gonen.blog.

Tagged in Self Improvement

By jordangonen on July 25, 2017.

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Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.