Everyone experiences setbacks. Sometimes it’s a small hurdle and other times, it’s a life-altering dilemma. However, if you’re unable to establish the right mindset, you may not be able to persevere through even the smallest of obstacles. Whether you’re an athlete or entrepreneur, learning how to be resilient during tough times will help you to thrive. Here are some techniques for overcoming adversity and getting ready to win in your life.

Remember Your Purpose

You may be the most talented person in the room, but you won’t get to the top without endurance, perseverance and mental strength. The road can get bumpy and hard to navigate, so it’s important to ask yourself why you’re on this path and revisit the answer when you get discouraged. Your values will shape your goals. If the answers change from time to time, that’s okay too!

Embrace Failure and Let it Drive You

Developing mental toughness and learning perseverance means accepting and overcoming failure. You will fail from time to time. How you react will determine your ability to adapt and move on. Some people never get past the possibility of failure, and they never give themselves a chance to accomplish their dreams. However, allowing yourself to fall short teaches you how to improve.

Start Taking Risks, and Keep Taking Them

Perseverance doesn’t occur in your comfort zone. By taking more risks, you increase your chances of mental growth. Uncertainty shows you who you are and how you respond to difficult situations. When you know you can keep calm through a storm, you’ll have confidence in your ability to adapt and overcome. You’ll trust yourself, and others will look to you for leadership when the going gets tough.

Identify What’s Holding You Back and Address It

If you don’t know what’s keeping you from achieving greatness, then you can’t move past it. Your resistance may be internal or external, but it has power over you. It may be the result of a toxic relationship or poor self-esteem. Whatever keeps you from reaching your goals, you must identify it to overcome it. Once your desire for success outweighs the negativity, you’ll be able to grow and win in your life.

Work Out, and Don’t Give Up

Whether the hill you’re climbing is mentally or physically challenging, you must optimize both for peak performance. When you build your body, you build your mind, and you’re able to practice focusing all of your energy on a single goal. The key is to have an exercise plan and stick to it. Even on hard days, just starting your workout session greatly decreases the likelihood of quitting, and completing the routine means you’ve accomplished something.

Cultivate Your Support Network

You may be mentally strong, but if you don’t have a community behind you building you up, then you’re not strong enough. Your friends, family and colleagues want you to succeed, and they’ll give you the strength you need to make it, but you have to put the time and effort into those relationships. When you do suffer a setback, you can lean on your network for the encouragement you need to keep going.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

If you’re not diligently paying attention, failure can stop you in your tracks. Remember what you’re trying to accomplish and don’t deviate from your path, even when you experience a setback. When you’re resilient, you can persevere through failure, and you can even let it motivate you toward greater strength, speed and mental fortitude.

Set Clear Targets, and Reward Yourself

The journey to success is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time to reach your ultimate goals, so it’s important to set benchmarks along the way to keep you from giving up. When you achieve a milestone, celebrate it and reward yourself for the effort you put into the process. This will give you the motivation to outdo yourself and when it gets hard, you’ll have the perseverance to keep pushing forward.

Physical strength is important, but your perseverance is what makes you exceptional.