Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

I believe that the best indicator that you’re ready to accomplish a long term goal is when you consistently keep promises to yourself. It’s very easy to quit on yourself.  Much easier than quitting when someone important to you is counting on you.  This is why your toughest competition in life is the person in the mirror.

You can’t expect to always win either.  Undoubtedly, you will have setbacks.  There will be times when procrastination, fear, or some other emotion temporarily beats you.  However as I like to say, “minor setback major comeback”.  You can’t beat yourself up when your opponent in the mirror gets the best of you.  Instead of negative self-talk, take corrective action.

With this purpose in mind, the first step to correct a setback is to get motivated.  To help out, below are the best minor setback major comeback quotes to motivate you.

Minor Setback Major Comeback Quotes

1) Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure. – Napoleon Hill

2) How many people are completely successful in every department of life? Not one. The most successful people are the ones who learn from their mistakes and turn their failures into opportunities. – Zig Ziglar

3) Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success. – Biz Stone

4) A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. – John Maxwell

5) Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward. – Henry Ford

6) Don’t expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle. – Colin Powell

7) You will fail sometimes, not because you planned to, but simply because you’re human. Failure is a part of creating a great life. Stand up to it and handle it with grace. Because, you can. – Les Brown

The Mindset of a Person Who Turns a Setback into a Comeback

There are specific mindset types that allow someone to turn a setback into a comeback. Your mindset is a thought pattern that directly impacts how you lead your life. When these patterns align with the behaviors you need to turn a setback into a comeback, then the comeback is nearly inevitable, if not guaranteed.

There are five mindset types in particular that enable the thought pattern one needs to turn a setback into a comeback. Each of the mindsets listed below is linked to an article with further details on how these mindsets impact one’s thought pattern. I highly recommend you follow each of the links to get more information on how you can focus your mindset to turn any setback into a setup for a comeback.

1. Process mindset over the outcome mindset
2. Challenge mindset over the threat mindset
3. Building strengths mindset over the mindset to fix weaknesses
4. Why mindset over the what mindset
5. Growth mindset over the fixed mindset

The Two Moments That Define a Comeback

There are two moments that define a comeback.

1. The moment of doubt, and
2. The moment of hope

The Moment of Doubt Right After the Minor Setback

At the moment of doubt, your mind approaches a fork in the road. You have the option to quit or keep trying.  In this moment, you’re overcome by a split second of weakness that opens up the option to quit.   Giving up and giving in seems like the fastest way to exhale and get relief.

Then, your training kicks in. You remember your sacrifices. Simultaneously, you remember what it takes to win.  When these two memories outweigh your doubt, you gain confidence that your training has prepared you. Even though you know quitting is easier, you choose to keep trying.  It’s the choice to keep trying that leads to moment #2 — the moment of hope.

The Moment of Hope Right Before the Major Comeback

At this moment of hope, your mind visualizes the comeback. The comeback becomes real.  You realize that even though your mistakes led to this moment, that those mistakes didn’t crush you. Despite what happened in the past, success is still within reach.  What’s more, this moment of hope reminds you that you are in control of your destiny.

It’s in this moment of hope where you snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

How to Execute a Major Comeback After a Minor Setback

There is a pattern that emerges in almost all major comeback stories. This pattern emerges out of the process of applying metacognition techniques. Metacognition is when you think about how you think and then use what you learn to improve your thinking. Simply stated, this means not only learning from failure, but applying what you learn to improve.

I wrote about this in an article covering recent research from Patricia Chen, Ph.D. on the strategic mindset. Her research shows how those with a strategic mindset make more progress towards their goals than everyone else. Ultimately, it’s the metacognition behaviors those with the strategic mindset use that form the basic pattern that almost all comeback stories follow.

What’s more, there are two behavior patterns that specifically make a comeback possible.

1. Identifying the behaviors that caused the need for a comeback
2. Changing those behaviors in ways that drive improvements that can be monitored

This is simple and simple usually works best. If you can just learn from and apply the learning from your mistakes, you can comeback from anything.