The late Steve Jobs was an advocate of the morning pep talk. In his famous 2005 commencement address at Stanford, the Apple co-founder and tech visionary said:
"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been, 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
Melody McCloskey, the 32-year-old co-founder and CEO of online beauty startup StyleSeat, is of a similar opinion. She says that morning pep talks helped her overcome obstacles and raise more than $40 million from investors.
When McCoskey was starting out, all she heard was the word "No." The then-27-year-old had quit her job in media to launch an online beauty start-up with little entrepreneurial experience.
The process of starting a company, and specifically of having to fundraise for it, gave her a crash course in handling rejection and dealing with feeling down on yourself.
"It's challenging," McCloskey tells CNBC. "It's the type of process where you'll get 40 'No's' and then you will get a handful of 'Yesses,' hopefully. In the best case scenario."
To navigate the uncertainty, McCloskey started giving herself morning pep talks, and said anyone who is struggling should do the same.
"You just have to wake up and say 'I'm going to learn from past meetings, past conversations,'" she says. "And say 'I'm going to get smarter and better. I'm going to kill it in these next meetings.'"
By lifting your own spirits, she says, you begin to understand that rejection and failure is not always your fault.
For McCloskey, that realization was very clear.
"There are three dozen reasons why an investor isn't right for your company or you're not right for them," she says. "They don't understand your business model, maybe they've already invested too many times in your area of business and you don't even know that."
The CEO believes that morning pep talks are a great way to remind yourself that sometimes failure has nothing to do with you. But don't just take Jobs' or McCloskey's word for it.
Research suggests that people who self-motivate and talk to themselves in a nurturing way can actually change the way they feel about themselves for the better.
For some inspiration, check out the personal mantra of Olympic champion or billionaire .