5 Habits That Helped Me Keep Going When It Got Hard
The survival strategies I discovered during my darkest year—and how they saved me from giving up
I almost quit on a Thursday.
Not just my job or a project. Everything. The dream I'd been chasing for three years, the business I'd poured my savings into, the version of myself I'd been fighting to become.
I sat in my car outside a coffee shop, hands trembling on the steering wheel, staring at my bank account balance: negative forty-seven dollars. Three failed product launches. Six months without a single sale. A credit card maxed out and a voicemail from my landlord I was too afraid to listen to.
The easiest thing in the world would have been to walk away. To admit defeat. To tell everyone who'd doubted me that they were right all along.
But I didn't. And looking back now, eighteen months later with a thriving business and a life I barely recognize, I realize it wasn't willpower or motivation that kept me going. It was five small habits I stumbled into during those dark months—habits so simple they felt almost meaningless at the time.
But they weren't meaningless. They were lifelines.
1. The Morning Page Promise
I started writing one page every morning. Not a journal. Not goals or gratitude lists. Just whatever chaos was swirling in my head, dumped onto paper without filter or judgment.
"I'm terrified." "I don't know what I'm doing." "Maybe everyone was right about me."
The habit worked because it externalized the panic. When negative thoughts lived only in my head, they grew monstrous and overwhelming. But written on paper, they became manageable. Finite. Something I could look at and say, "Okay, this is what I'm dealing with today."
Some mornings, my page was dark and hopeless. Other mornings, a tiny spark of determination would appear between the fear. Either way, the act of writing cleared space in my mind to actually think instead of just spiral.
On my hardest days, that single page was the only thing standing between me and complete collapse.
2. The One Small Win Rule
I made a rule: accomplish one small thing every day. Not something big or business-changing. Just one tiny forward motion.
Send one email. Update one product description. Read one chapter of a business book. Make one connection on LinkedIn.
The breakthrough came when I realized momentum doesn't require giant leaps. It just requires movement. Any movement.
On days when I felt utterly paralyzed by how far I had to go, focusing on one small win made the impossible feel possible again. And some days, that single action would spark motivation for two or three more. But even on days when it didn't, I still went to bed having moved one inch forward instead of standing still.
One inch, multiplied by 365 days, is thirty feet. That's not standing still. That's progress.
3. The Comparison Detox
I deleted Instagram. Unfollowed everyone on LinkedIn who made me feel behind. Stopped reading success stories of people who "made it" in half the time it was taking me.
This wasn't about ignorance or isolation. It was about survival.
Every time I saw someone else's highlight reel, I measured my behind-the-scenes struggle against their polished success and found myself lacking. It was poison disguised as inspiration.
Removing comparison didn't make my problems disappear, but it stopped me from adding "not being as good as them" to my already overwhelming list of struggles.
I could finally focus on my own path without the constant background noise of everyone else's journey making me feel inadequate.
4. The Anchor Person Check-In
I found one person—just one—who I trusted completely, and I checked in with them once a week. Not for advice or solutions. Just for connection.
My anchor person was my college roommate, Maya. Every Sunday evening, I'd call her and tell the truth about how I was really doing. She didn't try to fix me or convince me everything would be okay. She just listened and reminded me she believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.
Those calls kept me human. When you're struggling alone, it's easy to forget you're not actually alone. That phone call every week was proof someone saw me, knew what I was going through, and wasn't going anywhere.
On the weeks I wanted to quit, Maya's voice in my head saying "I believe in you" was sometimes the only reason I didn't.
5. The Evidence Journal
Every Friday, I wrote down three pieces of evidence that I was making progress. Not hopes or plans. Evidence.
"Client sent a thank-you email for my work." "Figured out how to fix the website error." "Didn't quit even though I wanted to."
When you're in survival mode, it's easy to only see what's going wrong. This habit forced me to acknowledge what was going right, even if it was microscopic.
Over time, those weekly entries became a timeline of resilience. On my worst days, I could flip back through months of evidence that I'd survived hard things before and come out stronger. That I was capable of more than my current circumstances suggested.
Why These Work
These five habits didn't fix my business overnight. They didn't magically solve my financial problems or eliminate the fear.
But they did something more important: they kept me in the game long enough for things to turn around.
Because here's the truth nobody tells you—success isn't about never struggling. It's about having systems in place that help you function when you are struggling. It's about building habits so simple that even on your worst day, you can still do them.
The habits became my scaffolding. They held me up when I couldn't hold myself up. And eventually, after months of showing up through the pain, things started shifting. Slowly at first, then all at once.
Where I Am Now
Eighteen months later, my business is thriving. Not because I'm special or talented or lucky, but because I refused to quit during the months when quitting was the only logical option.
I still use these five habits. Not because I'm struggling anymore, but because they taught me something profound: you don't need motivation to keep going. You just need a few small practices that work even when you're broken.
If you're in that dark place right now—where giving up feels easier than holding on—I want you to know something. You don't have to have it all figured out. You don't have to feel strong or confident or ready.
You just need five small habits that help you survive today. Then tomorrow. Then the day after that.
And one day, you'll look back and realize that surviving was the same thing as succeeding all along.
Keep going. The breakthrough is closer than you think.
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Thank you for reading...
Regards: Fazal Hadi
About the Creator
Fazal Hadi
Hello, I’m Fazal Hadi, a motivational storyteller who writes honest, human stories that inspire growth, hope, and inner strength.
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