The person beginning a difficult task needs a workable entrance, not a speech about determination.

Encouragement aimed at willpower usually misses the actual obstacle. Someone stalled at the start of something hard is rarely short on motivation; they are short on a first move small enough to make. Telling them to push through adds pressure to a situation whose problem is that nothing looks like a place to begin. What helps is reducing the size of step one until it becomes obviously doable.

If someone near you is stuck, ask what the very first action would be and help make it smaller. Offer to sit with them while they do that one piece. Save the pep talk, which was mostly for you anyway.