Set point as defined by Dr. Joel Bennet in his book, Raw Coping Power (p. 186-187) is defined as, “The general level of functioning that includes happiness as well as health, consciousness, and the ability to function effectively in all areas of life: social, community, financial, family  and career.

Basically, our “set point” is what we settle for, our fixed routines, what we put up with or think, “this is how it is, this is as good as it gets for me”.  It is influenced by a host of factors.  Family of origin, nationality, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, religion to name a few.

We learn this “set point” and develop habits and ideals based on what we think is a fixed ceiling.  The upside here is, “set point” is changeable.  We can move our set point up, and it can also move down based on life experiences, stressors and our ability to realize we are stuck and need to address why we settle for a certain ceiling in our daily lives.

For example, a woman may feel she can only advance so far in a career because of a “set point” idea commonly called the glass ceiling.  It is not a visible limit, but it is a societal limit.  Add race to the equation and an additional stress is placed on the individual. 

So, what influences set point?  Why do we settle and feel stuck tolerating a certain level of being?  Habits and tolerance attitudes play a role in influencing or set point by both keeping us “stuck” in that fixed range of being.  Our habits get ingrained in us and we typically go on autopilot.  It’s only when we become aware of mindful of our ingrained habits that we can see how one habit influences the next and really our lifestyles.  We also learn to tolerate situations or lifestyles because we think this is just how it is.  Cultural influences are too strong for me as 1 person to fight back or based on my beliefs this is where I need to remain. 

Open ended questions, like I use in health coaching; can help you address your “set-point”.  One such question is “Are you aware of your own “set point”?  Where do you settle, feel stuck or have an area of tolerance?  The first step is realizing you even have a “set point”.

If you’d like help in exploring set point, having more questions to address your current states and want to learn strategies to raise set point, address behaviors or discover what is truly important to you I’d love to do some 1:1 health coaching with you.  You’ll find the answers are within, you just need to guidance of a coach to help you see where you are stuck and develop a plan to move a step forward to your best self.