Have you ever noticed something fascinating about your mind - particularly your thoughts?

It tells you, “Go left.”

You go left.

And if it doesn’t work out, it says, “See? You should’ve gone right.”

Or a string of thoughts you don’t like start flooding your mind - and the more you try to get rid of them, the more they keep coming.

At collective times of the year - moments we all share through rituals and traditions, like the holidays - it’s common to experience more stress and anxious moments.

Most of the time, the stress itself isn’t the issue.

It’s the thoughts about the stress that weigh us down.

Think about being late for something.

The reality is simple: if you’re late, you’re late. You acknowledge it and make adjustments for next time.

But the stress doesn’t come from being late - it comes from the thoughts:

Why didn’t I leave earlier?

What are they going to think when I walk in?

Why won’t this car move faster? Why won’t this light change?

Getting caught up in our thoughts is the main source of most stress.

We can’t control thoughts - they appear out of nowhere, often with no rhyme, reason, or context.

One moment it’s laundry.

The next it’s a trip from 15 years ago.

Then suddenly the sweater the barista was wearing this morning.

We’re not doing anything to make them show up - they just do.

And it’s not the thoughts themselves that stress us out.

It’s inviting them in and getting pulled into what they’re saying.

If we let thoughts come and go - like cars moving along a highway while we watch from a high-rise - they pass. And before we know it, we’ve forgotten what the fuss was even about.

Here’s a simple practice you can try today:

Find 3 minutes.

Sit down. Close your eyes.

Gently breathe in through your nose.

Hold as long as comfortably possible.

Breathe out through your nose.

If a thought about laundry or dinner pops up, let it happen.

Don’t fight it. Don’t judge it.

Just return your attention to your breathing.

If you need to adjust your position, adjust.

If you have an itch, scratch.

For these 3 minutes, your only focus is breathing - while your mind does what it does.

Inside the Triomph app, we’ve unlocked a short stress-relief breathing and reset session you can follow along with - something simple you can use anytime the noise starts to build.

We’re not trying to control our thoughts.

We’re learning how to live with them - without being disturbed.

No fuss.

No stress.

Quick question:

When do your thoughts tend to get the loudest - mornings, during the day, or at night?

Just hit Reply and let me know.