Your Brain Fails You When You Need It Most. Here’s The Fix.

The Backstory

I’ve mentioned this before, but years ago, I learned the hard way that my “just grind it out” approach to dealing with stress had detonated every circuit in my mind and left me hospitalized. Recovery forced me to design and implement guardrails I’d never needed before. Out of that hot mess came my first Trigger Action Plans (TAPs for short). They were simple checklists that let me pivot from “spiralling” to “steady” without needing heroic willpower. The idea was lifted from a Tim Ferriss podcast, but my implementation was born of pure necessity.

I wrote an action plan for when I was feeling negative, one for when stressed, another for anger, and one for when I was in a low-energy or bored state. Having a set of clear instructions to follow when I enter any of these states really helps me recalibrate myself. I highly recommend having such tools at your disposal, as it allows you to rapidly bring yourself back to a more positive state.

I’ve written about this idea before a few times, but this week, someone close to me was feeling totally off. They told me how they were feeling, so I shared my TAPs, along with an explanation as to how they’d helped me deal with such situations.

Their feedback reminded me that this is worth sharing again. After all, if it was that helpful to them, I figured it would almost certainly be helpful for others.

Think of your TAP as your “in case of fire, break glass” routine to follow when things go sideways on you (which they certainly will!).

What exactly is a Trigger Action Plan?

It is basically an “If-This-Then-That” macro for your nervous system, a pre-defined script that you execute when you notice you’re entering a state you’d rather not be in. The genius of this idea lies in the timing; when cortisol floods your bloodstream, the rational part of your brain clocks out, so you are no longer properly equipped to figure out what to do. By writing out the plan ahead of time, you bypass the poor judgement of ‘Crisis You’ and design a simple set of steps when you’re able to think clearly.

I define a TAP with three components:

Trigger – the signs you’re drifting
Action Stack – two to five micro-behaviours proven to change state fast
Desired State – the specific mood you want on the other side

One-half page, tops. Anything longer becomes another task you’ll ignore when panic strikes.

Building Your Own TAP in 20 Minutes

Building these plans out ahead of time is life-changing, and surprisingly quick to do. Here’s a visual to the approach I use to build them:

Step 1: Spot Your Red Flags

Reflect on the last couple times you felt thrown off. Where did you lose the plot? Was it frustration when your spouse did something that upset you? Stress over a work deliverable you were running late on? Just brain dump a few of the situations where you felt you weren’t at your finest, and next to each make a few bullets of the “symptoms” you felt in that space. How did you feel? What were the sensations in your body? You need to understand what the signals are that mean you’re moving into a state you don’t want, so that you can take action.

Step 2: Define the Finish Line

How do you want to feel after executing your TAP? Be specific. “Feel better” is useless. Try “steady focus and normal breathing” or “light, playful energy.”

Step 3: Brain-storm Micro-Shifts

You’re looking for tiny levers with big returns: 60-second box breathing, a glass of water, hitting a punching bag, sit with your favourite music for 10 minutes, a two-minute free-write that asks, “What can I actually control?”. Everyone has their own tricks to help them pull themselves out of a funk. Don’t overthink it; you know yourself. Test anything you suspect will move the needle.

Step 4: Prune to Five Moves or Fewer

You’re not building Ikea furniture, so don’t make it complicated. The whole sequence should fit on a sticky note and run in under 15 minutes. List each step in bullet form, so it’s crystal clear what to do.

Step 5: Store It Somewhere Obvious

You need to have this easily available. Store it in a pinned note on your phone, write it on the front page of your notebook, or whatever will mean that you’ll have it easily available when the heat is on. As an example, I have a shortcut to my TAPs on my Notion homepage. It just needs to be readily accessible under pressure.

Step 6: Evaluate and Adapt the Plan

Fire the TAP once this week even if you’re fine. You’ll discover friction (forgot your headphones, water jug empty) and fix it before you really need the plan.

Real-World Example: My Current Negative Mindset TAP

I’ll give you a peek behind the curtain, showing an exact copy of one of my personal TAPs. I have built this routine over time, having made several revisions as I discovered what worked best for me.

When I enter this state, I need to focus on getting back to my usual curiosity, zest for life, and optimism for the future. When I catch myself in this negative energy, it’s important to ensure that I don’t engage in any news/media consumption, as that tends to make me even more negative. My natural tendency is to want to engage in this type of content consumption when I have entered a negative mindset, but it puts me on a downward spiral and so should be avoided. I also tend to want to consume alcohol when I am in that state, and that is a dangerous combination that I should avoid. Instead, I do the following:

Take five deep, calming breaths.
Five minutes of meditation.
Record thoughts in my journal, reflecting on the following questions:
- What is bothering me?
- Why is this bothering me?
- Which aspects of this situation are in my control?
- Which aspects are not in my control?
- How would the “best version of myself” respond in a situation like this?

If I’m still feeling negative after taking those actions, I can consider also:

throw headphones on and listen to some music
sit outside in sunshine if possible
take a walk

I’ve learned that having this plan on the ready has really helped me transition back into a more ideal state quite rapidly.

Which Triggers Should You Plan For?

First point – start small! Pick one state of mind you’d like to be able to pull yourself out of, and build a TAP for it. Use it for a bit to get a feel for it. As you do this, you’ll likely encounter other states of being you’d rather switch out of. But here’s a few ideas to get you started:

stress / overwhelm
negativity
rumination
lack of energy / boredom
anger

Once you’ve got these common saboteurs covered, anything else that knocks you off mission is fair game for a TAP!

Closing Thoughts

Top performers don’t just rise up to the occasion; they rely on extensive preparation. You should learn from them and do the same.

A Trigger Action Plan is a great way of building resilience into your life. Things are going to go wrong, and you’ll be thrown off-course. That’s life. But having a TAP is a great method of future-proofing your emotional circuitry. It’s sort of an insurance policy you’ve designed to keep you going, even when times get tough.

The next time life blindsides you (and it will!), I hope you’ve got your own TAP ready to run.

Quotation I’ve Been Pondering

Philosopher Albert Camus on the need to just be, instead of over-thinking everything.

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”

Journal Prompt

“Where am I gripping too tightly instead of allowing it to be easy?”

Until next week!!

Work and live well.

Tim

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