A better mindset is not pretending the mountain is small; it is remembering your legs are strong.

Pretending a difficulty is smaller than it is will not survive contact with the difficulty. What holds up is an honest look at the size of the thing paired with an honest look at what you have already carried. Real confidence is comparative rather than dismissive. It does not shrink the mountain; it remembers the other climbs.

Before something hard, spend a moment listing what you have handled before that also looked impossible from the bottom. Be specific, with names and dates, because vague reassurance does not work. Then look at the mountain again and let it be exactly as big as it is.