Nobody buckles up during the crash. Good habits have to be clicked in before the bad moment.

Protection has to be in place before you need it, because the moment you need it is the moment you cannot install it. Every useful habit works this way, the savings and the sleep and the people you stay in touch with. During the emergency you will use whatever was already there and nothing else.

Ask what you would want to already have in place if next month went badly. Then put one of those things in now, while it feels unnecessary. Feeling unnecessary is exactly how a well-timed habit is supposed to feel.