10 Things to Do When You Are Feeling Discouraged

It’s not entirely easy to deal with feeling discourages, but it’s something that happens even to the best of us.

No matter how hard you try to avoid it, there will be days where you question even your own abilities and capacities.

However, feeling discourages doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong or that it’s a reflection of your inadequacy.

You just have to remember not to dwell on this feeling of discouragement if you don’t want that feeling to reflect on your actions and choices. In this article, we’ll be discussing everything you need to know about feeling discouraged.

What It Means To Feel Discouraged

The lines between discouragement and hopelessness can be easily blurred because of how similar they are to one another.

When you feel discouraged, you’re unable to have the motivation to continue whatever it is you’re doing. It’s a struggle on its own to get up in the morning and find meaning and fulfillment in your work.

Feeling discouraged means that your flaws, mistakes, and challenges feel much greater than the positive side of things.

This means your usual positivity and productivity has been replaced by a feeling of hopelessness, and you find it difficult to keep moving forward.

While discouragement is a normal emotion, it can easily get in the way of your daily activities if you’re not careful enough.

10 Things To Do When You Are Feeling Discouraged

1. Manage your expectations

If you want to stop feeling disappointed all the time, then you need to manage your own expectations actively.

Most of the time when we feel disappointed, it comes from the fact that our expectations don’t align with our version of the truth.

Finding the balance between your expectations and reality is the best way to deal with disappointment, and to accept that it’s not always going to happen your way.

2. Let go of perfectionism

Discouragement can also come from the need to be perfect all the time, and this is just an unrealistic standard you’re setting for yourself.

You need to realize that perfection can never be achieved. it’s okay to rest and take a break, but you have to let go of the pressure to get every detail right.

Let yourself make mistakes and learn from them because what matters is you tried your best.

3. Stop comparing yourself to others

When you’re feeling discouraged, the last thing you should be doing is comparing yourself to others.

You already feel inadequate and insecure enough and comparing your progress or life to others isn’t going to help.

Every person has their individual pace and progress and even if you take longer, what matters is that you’re trying your best despite how easy it is to feel discouraged.

4. Focus on the bigger picture

You will always find a way to dwell on discouragement when you’re impatient with your goals without seeing the bigger picture of things.

Whether it’s a success or the future you want, there’s always a bigger picture and it’s best you focus on that.

Focusing on the bigger picture keeps you motivated enough to keep moving forward, even if you don’t see immediate results.

5. Focus on your goals

Everyone has goals, but there’s a huge difference between knowing your goals and staying dedicated to them.

You need to remind yourself why you want to achieve your goals whenever you’re feeling discouraged, and your purpose in all the hardship and challenges.

Let your goals guide you towards the reason why you should keep moving towards achieving them.

6. Don’t dwell on your negative thoughts

No matter how loud your negative thoughts can be, you need to try your hardest not to listen to them.

No matter how much discouragement you feel, they don’t define you and they won’t reflect your progress.

There is so much to life than your feeling of discouragement and even if you feel inadequate in reaching your goals, you don’t have to believe in every negative thought your mind convinces you of.

7. Spend your time around empowering people

You are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with, which makes your peers a very important part in helping your discouragement.

If you don’t want your discouragement to become worse than you already feel, you need to spend time around people who empower and motivate you to be at your best potential.

8. Let yourself rest

There’s nothing wrong with taking a break and it’s not counterproductive to your success.

In fact, if you feel discouraged and overwhelmed, there’s a huge chance that it’s coming from a need for rest.

When you’re fully rested and energized, that’s the only time you can work efficiently towards your goals.

9. Talk to a mentor

Everyone has someone they treat as a mentor and someone that gives them the necessary words of wisdom they need for the day. Talking to a mentor can help you figure things out amidst your discouragement.

10. Lean towards your passion and purpose

Your passion and purpose will keep you moving forward towards your goals, even when you feel exhausted and drained. When you feel discouraged, they will remind you why you’re doing this.

Overcoming Feeling Discouraged

Overcoming feeling discouraged is easier said than done, but it requires seeing the bigger picture of things and remembering why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Even if discouragement is normal, you shouldn’t dwell on it if you want to feel better and cope with it effectively.

You need to let yourself remember your goals and why they’re worth pursuing after, even when you don’t see immediate results yet.

Final Thoughts

I hope this article was able to shed insight into everything you needed to know on feeling discouraged.

This negative feeling isn’t something you need to shut out but remember that everyone has days where they can’t feel but feel otherwise.

However, it’s how you cope with discouragement that will determine how your success and accomplishment will turn out to be.