How often do you feel stressed?

Some of us can find ourselves trapped in the stress loop. It can happen to the best among us. It happens for reasons ranging from childhood circumstances to current day habits, and all in between. There is no simple solution.

When you’re in the stress loop, it’s easy to find yourself in a situation where the days aren’t quite building off of each other. You'll try to get through today, so you can try to get through the next.

For those of us who want to grow and improve our lot, this is no recipe for success. We simply must break out of it. Ideally, we'll reach a space where one day supports the next one, and the next one builds directly on the last one.

The days become more connected, more reliant upon each other. It's essentially a root system for a well-lived life:

• It reverses the path of least resistance, so you're used to doing the right thing, not the wrong thing

• This helps you grow with less effort. It leaves you less likely to break from your good habits

• It clarifies for where your resources should go at any given moment freeing you from boredom (i.e., attention, focus, energy)

It gives you life. It gives you hope. It gives you growth opportunities.

If you’ve got residual stress, it’s important to be honest about it and do what you need to do to resolve it.

That could be yoga, meditation, or therapy. It could be a schedule of regular massages (paid or unpaid - spouses can be great for this). If you're into martial arts, it might be kickboxing, or the more meditative tai chi. If music brings you life, it could be joining a band and doing gigs on the weekends. There are lots of ways you can turn this stress into growth.

The tricky part is, they’re not easy to, y'know, actually do.

They require long term commitment, and foresight, and giving up current behaviors. It’s a lot easier to reach for a drink, binge a show, or mindlessly browse the web.

If you do want to break out of the stress loop, try this tiny little start. Fill out this template Implementation Intention. Next time you feel tempted to mindlessly reach for your phone, or turn on Netflix, or grab that ice cream, or whatever your vice is keeping you back -- follow this one instead:

"If _______ [insert your own bad habit here], I will ________ [insert specific action you'll take that relates to your good habit]."

The key is to be as specific as possible, almost to a laughable degree.

Here are a couple filled out, for example:

• "If I open Facebook on my phone without a specific task relating to a specific friend in mind, I will immediately click the "all open apps" icon in the corner of my phone, close Facebook, and take 5 deep breaths. Each breath will be a 5-second inhale and 5-second exhale."

• "If I sit on the couch and turn on Netflix, Hulu, any other streaming service or other app without a specific goal in mind, I will immediately click the "power" button on the remote, stand up, throw my hands in the air like I'm Rocky, and walk into the next room, hands high."

Get zany with it! The zanier the better, because you'll remember it more and it'll stick better.

The power is yours. Now go and progress!