
You know that feeling when everything seems to be going sideways? Your bank account is shrinking, your projects aren’t landing, and you’re watching everyone else’s highlight reel while you’re stuck in the blooper footage of your own life. I’ve been there, sitting in that valley where progress feels like a cruel joke and motivation is nowhere to be found.
The truth is, we’ve been playing the wrong game all along. We’re measuring our entire worth against metrics we don’t fully control, letting algorithms and bank balances dictate whether we’re winning or losing at life. And it’s exhausting.
Rig the Game in Your Favor
There’s this concept that’s been quietly saving my sanity: rig the game so you’re always feeling some sort of progress. Not in a dishonest way, but in a way that recognizes life isn’t one single scoreboard. It’s multiple games happening simultaneously, and you get to choose which ones matter most.
When your creative work isn’t getting the views it deserves, nobody can take away the kilometer you just ran. When your business is in a rough patch, nobody can unread the book you finished last night. When external validation dries up, you still have complete control over your physical freedom, your skills, your knowledge reservoir.
Progress exists in categories you control entirely from start to finish. That painting you completed? It’s done. That new skill you practiced? It’s yours forever. These aren’t consolation prizes. They’re legitimate wins in games that actually matter.
The Messy Middle Is Where You Prove Yourself
The hardest part isn’t starting or finishing. It’s the messy middle where you’re hacking away and somehow feel further from your goal than when you began. This is where most people quit, where life kicks hardest, where doubt creeps in and whispers that you’re wasting your time.
But here’s what I’ve learned: persistence isn’t about toughing it out in one arena. It’s about knowing which games you can win when your primary game feels unwinnable. When your creative work isn’t hitting, you can still skill up. When money’s tight, you can still build knowledge. When nothing seems to be working, you can still show up for your body.
The act of doing, of progressing in something, pulls you out of the spiral. Not busy work that numbs you, but genuine building toward meaningful goals in areas you actually control.
Breaking Free from Algorithm Prison
Social media has poisoned our relationship with creativity. It’s brainwashed us into believing that work only counts if it gets algorithmic validation. You create something you’re genuinely proud of, but that voice pipes up: “No views? Then it doesn’t matter. You’re a loser.”
And there’s so much evidence online supporting that voice. Every feed is filled with someone’s viral moment, someone’s massive win, someone’s “overnight” success. It’s relentless.
But creativity isn’t a popularity contest. Your growth, your learning, your improvement—these things are real whether anyone witnesses them or not. That book you read expanded your mind regardless of whether you posted about it. That skill you practiced made you better whether or not it made you money this month.
What Actually Moves the Needle
You can’t think your way out of these valleys. Trust me, I tried. Sitting in a room, giving yourself “space,” trying to solve everything mentally—it doesn’t work. Your brain just spins in circles, attacking the same problems from slightly different angles, getting nowhere.
What works is doing. Writing when you don’t feel like it. Running when motivation is absent. Reading when you’d rather scroll. Creating when the outcome is uncertain. The fulfillment comes from the process, from being in flow, from building something tangible in a world that often feels intangible.
When life isn’t going well, when external circumstances are kicking you repeatedly, you need internal wins. You need games you can win. Not fake participation trophies, but real progress in areas that genuinely develop you as a human.
So rig your games. Define success in ways that give you daily wins. Build multiple scoreboards so when one shows losses, others show gains. Because when you control the metrics, you control your momentum. And momentum, even small momentum, is what carries you through the valleys until the view improves.
If this post sparked a thought, shifted your mindset, or gave you something meaningful — don’t let it end here.
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