How do you stay consistent after a bad mock?

The week-long spiral happens because a bad mock ends with an abstract feeling — 'I'm not good enough' — rather than a concrete list of fixable problems. The feeling is hard to act on; the list is easy to act on. Try this: same-day analysis before you close the laptop, even if it's just 20 minutes. Not a full review session — just: 'What were the 4–5 questions where things fell apart, and why?' You'll almost always find the score collapse was concentrated in one topic or one type of mistake, not a general failure. That's much easier to sit with. Then write down 3 specific things to change in the next mock — a decision rule, a topic to drill, a time-management adjustment — and put the next mock date in your calendar that evening. The act of planning the response removes the existential dread and replaces it with a project. The consistency isn't about never having bad mocks. It's about having a recovery routine that's faster than the spiral.