When most people try to build a wellness habit, they focus on the outcome: I want to feel less stressed. I want to sleep better. I want to be healthier. These are fine goals, but they're located in the future and the future is abstract. It doesn't pull you out of bed on a cold Tuesday morning.

We talk about stress as though it's just a feeling. A bad week at work, a difficult conversation, a too-long to-do list. But beneath the surface, chronic stress is doing something far more serious; it's quietly shortening your life.

Poor sleep is one of the most common complaints of modern life. Around one in three adults in the UK report regularly not getting enough of it. We lie awake at night with a restless mind, wake in the small hours unable to settle, or drag ourselves through the day on four or five broken hours, relying on caffeine to paper over the cracks.