In order to take control of the stories we tell ourselves, we have to adopt certain mental beliefs. It would simply be a perspective or an interpretation through which to see reality. Such beliefs are particularly important in poker (and also in life), so we will look at them more closely.
Let's start with the most banal example - half a glass of water. You may see this glass as half full or half empty, depending on the beliefs that dominate your mind. The simplest shift in interpretation changes a person's view of this glass fundamentally.
In the same way, self-consciousness also relies heavily on these mind-limiting beliefs. Downswing will simply create new mental limitations, e.g. "I'm not doing well at all, I'm being punished when I should be rewarded, I don't deserve it, I'm going to go down, I'm going to lose money", etc. In this way, emotions are linked to labels, victim role and recession.
But we can turn this perspective around, also by using the beliefs of reason. Using exactly the same set of facts, we can interpret and contextualise them in a way that benefits us. For example, instead of thinking "I am being punished when I should be rewarded", let's change it to "How I deal with this downswing defines me as a poker player". And the conviction turns from a label into a challenge. Instead of the 'I don't deserve it', the victim role, let's change it to 'Everybody has downswings, this one's mine, I knew it would come eventually, and here it is' - the acceptance belief. In the same way, we can also deal with the downswing belief "I'm going down" by replacing it with the progress belief "I'm getting better thanks to this downswing".
The combination of the last two beliefs is sometimes referred to as the fog of variation. It is a very powerful deal'inant with downswing. One of the reasons why it is so difficult to get caught in a downswing is that we believe that we are the only ones being unfairly punished. No matter what we do or how well we play, when the downswing comes, it seems that poker is punishing us and us alone.
In poker, there are two competing ideas about variation: one is that we alone create our own charts, and the other is that we are the victims of the vagaries of variation. People often oscillate between these two theories without honestly choosing one (and the truth lies somewhere in between these two ideas). But it would be most useful to choose both fully.
Instead of imagining that poker is a monolithic creature that affects one person correctly and another incorrectly, let's imagine variation as isolated to each individual. When you encounter a downswing, instead of thinking "It's not fair that poker chose to punish me with a downswing", think "This downswing was inevitable. It's part of my mountain. Eventually, I had to face a downswing of this size and duration, so it's happening now."
The same is true when climbing a mountain and you find that the next segment will be particularly difficult and time-consuming. Does the climber chuckle and say: "I don't deserve this part of the mountain, it's not fair that the mountain has done this to me"? Of course not. For the climber, it is just part of the mountain. It would be foolish to climb a mountain if you plan to remove the most twisted parts of the mountain. So what's different in poker?
We think poker is different because we carry in the back of our minds the belief that we should not experience downswings. Things could be different. The variation could simply choose to be good for us.
Actually, there is some truth in such thoughts. Variance simulators, forum posts showing great graphs and all those ash stories support the idea that if poker was good enough for us, things would be much simpler. But while this is technically true, such a perspective, such a belief can be extremely damaging.
It is necessary for us to choose the variation beliefs discussed a little earlier. We must imagine, 
that our graph of variation is already pre-plotted. There is no new snap decision or temptation. The variation that awaits us is like a mountain that we have already started to climb. We cannot yet see the variation we are about to encounter, it is still covered by a veil of mist. But nevertheless, we must realise that it will be there, that it is simply part of what poker is, and that we must accept it from the moment we decide to play poker.
There is only one problematic belief in the mind, and that is about money: 'I am losing money'. You may immediately think: "How can I change this? If I am already losing money, that is a fact. I can't fool myself in such a place". Let's think for a minute about how we define downswings. If a particularly edgy player loses everything in a week, he can declare "I had a downswing this week". But to whom? Notice that such a person defines the starting point at the beginning of the week. Now let's imagine that he wins three weeks before that. Why do we accept that he had a week-long downswing? Why do we not say that it lasted two weeks? Or three? Four? It is very subjective to determine the starting point in one's own mind.
So, if your graph has been going up all your life and suddenly started going down in the last month, why do you decide that a downswing has started? Why not choose instead that you have had gains in the last four months? Or even more, that you have experienced a steady rise since the beginning of your career?
Such a mental conviction could be called "one long session". Because it is very subjective to decide where what we call a downswing begins and ends. Once we understand this, we can decide for ourselves where we want to draw the lines. And then let us choose the start of our career. That way, every session you play will not be one in which you reach a new upswing or downswing. You're just in the ongoing flow that you started when you started playing and that will continue throughout your poker career. You don't even have to take responsibility for certain days, weeks or months when you were a good or bad player. You are completely free from such burdens. You no longer have to experience waves as isolated, painful or glorious. Instead, you can recall the whole story, from beginning to end.
Sounds nice, right? Easier said than done. Can you really accept things as they are? Can you sit back after a losing streak and think, "Well, my poker career is going pretty well anyway"? Of course it is not easy. But it is a skill that can be developed through sincere and deliberate practice.
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