What You'll Learn

Practical, granular strategies to offset stress by coaching the logical side of your brain into action—not just planning.

The logical part of our brain loves to plan. It sets 4:30am alarms, meal preps, blocks calendars—then loses steam after a day or two. It's evolutionarily new and loses battles constantly. So how do we get it to actually make changes that stick? Give it breadcrumbs and encouragement.

Get specific about what a less-stressed life looks like for YOU:

• Feeling genuinely connected to friends, family, community (in a way that gives you energy)
• Body feels loose and unwound most of the time, not just after massages or vacation
• Actually caught up on work—can relax weekends and nights without it hanging over you
• Bank account full, savings funded, happy with your daily lifestyle
• Time for hobbies you actually enjoy
• Sleep well, wake refreshed
• Healthy stress strategies that aren't food or alcohol

Remember when your shoulders felt good? Your jaw wasn't clenched? You could breathe fully? That wasn't an accident. Maybe you had connected time with family, a calm work week, or slept well 3-4 nights in a row.

Chase that feeling. Stop agonizing over WHICH yoga video to do and just DO one. Stop planning the perfect date for 3 hours—take a walk with your spouse instead. Move into ACTION quickly.

Pay attention to small daily stressors:

• Bills, work, family connections
• News and world event exposure

Eat low-inflammation foods:

• High fiber, low added sugar
• Whole fruits and veggies
• Bakery treats, not shelf-stable for 5 years

Move your body:

• Walk or run a few days a week
• Strength train, cycle, sports (pickleball, golf, ski)

Journal:

• Practice gratitude
• Reflect on your day or week
• Write letters to people you love

Whatever it is—recognize it, DO it, experiment with it.

Back to "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers": We can imagine and dream, which means we can wake up at 2:30am and by 3am have given ourselves a life-altering diagnosis, lost a career, or ruined a relationship in our minds. Zebras can't do that.

We're designed for acute physical and psychological stress. We're NOT good at handling it over days, weeks, months, years.

Think about it: Middle schoolers dealing with "fitting in" day after day. Patients with chronic diseases, doctor visits week after week. Friends paying bills and student loans month after month while juggling childcare. Citizens harping on politics year after year.

1000 years ago? Most of these problems didn't exist. Kids stayed local. Chronic disease was rare. Student loans didn't exist. News channels and social media didn't exist.

Point to your offset stress destination. Capture the feeling of those low-stress moments. Try something. Tell me if it's working.

One small change this month may lead to bigger ones. By next year, your stress-offsetting habits could be flipped—consistently pointing you toward that level-headed "This is going to be okay" attitude.

The ProblemPoint to Your DestinationChase the FeelingLeave Breadcrumbs for Your BrainWhy This MattersYour Challenge This Week