How to Remain Confident in Bad Times and Focused in Good Times
A simple trick to ensure mental balance in good and bad periods
No matter where you are in life, you’ll have ups and downs.
Whether you’re building a business, preparing a degree, or trying to change your physique, there will be good and bad times.
Most entrepreneurs face staggering growth but also depressing setbacks in their first year.
People who learn a new skill usually encounter satisfying wins but also gloomy moments on their journey.
And those who try to improve their physique always have to balance the joy of seeing results with endless hours of tedious exercising.
In short, every personal growth endeavor comes with intense satisfaction, but also distressing impediments.
That’s where the following simple yet powerful mental trick comes to fruition.
The trick: immortalize moments of satisfaction and hardship
A while ago, I wasn’t doing so well. My business wasn’t growing quickly enough and my personal life was falling apart.
Despondent, I scrolled through Youtube in search of motivational videos.
I came across a speech by Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. The world-renowned wrestler-turned-actor talked about his childhood, his career, and his mental drive.
His story was intriguing, but one single sentence kept blowing my mind:
“Remember the hard times!”
The Rock kept emphasizing the importance of remembering bad moments when you’re doing well.
In my hour of need, I heeded Johnson’s advice — both for good and bad moments. I started to journal daily about my hardships, my fears, and my wins.
I also wrote down all the wins I had experienced over the past two years.
Suddenly, my journal was full of positive and negative experiences.
As such, I widened the Rock’s approach and used positive stories to balance out negative feelings and vice versa.
This little trick nowadays helps me get out of holes and stay on the ground when success comes my way.
Use the trick to remain confident in bad times
When I felt discouraged about my business’ stagnation, I remembered my first ever sales, and how I grew my enterprise from zero to five figures in a few months.
These positive memories do not erase today’s troubles, but they work well as a mental impetus to keep going and stop feeling disheartened.
Write down every positive experience. Take a mental note of the feeling you had when your business made its first 100 dollars. And always celebrate small joys in your life, like a tasty home-made meal.
Whenever you’re feeling bad about something, revisit those positive mental and written notes.
Remember that you’ve achieved plenty and that negative moments always precede better days.
The more positive emotions you write down, the more negative situations you’ll counterbalance.
In this context, your memories of academic success can boost your motivation when you don’t feel like studying.
Photos of your best summer body can serve as a mental impetus to go to the gym when you don’t feel like it.
And memories of your first ever profit can save your mental state when your business faces adversity.
Use the same method to stay humble and focused during periods of success
When the good times eventually roll around, be sure to apply the same trick.
Revisit your darkest memories and always keep in mind that your current success can fade away.
By always remembering the hard times, your mental drive and focus will remain on point throughout periods of success.
Let’s take the example of scoring a job. We all know the feeling of walking out of an interview with confidence. You know you did well. You’ll get the job, bar a miracle.
A couple of days later, the company informs you that they would be delighted to hire you.
Fantastic! You feel invincible, like a Superbowl winner.
It’s during moments like these that you have to remember the hard times. Remember all the rejections, unreturned calls, and resumes you sent without getting replies.
These memories create a mental fortress that prevents you from losing your focus.
Your hunger won’t vanish and you’ll stay humble because you don’t take your current winning streak for granted.
Summary and final thoughts
- Having a journal filled with both positive and negative experiences is crucial for your mental balance.
- Use positive memories to counterbalance negative emotions and vice versa.
- Never take success for granted and never fall into a hole because of temporary negativity.
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