A setback is can be defined simply as a stoppage or reversal in one's progress.
For example, we see many professional athletes suffer injuries deterring them from being able to make progress amidst their season.
An injury requires time off, rehab, and sometimes even major surgery further delaying the progress of the athlete.
Setbacks are a natural consequence of being in pursuit of something.
Every time there is forward progress made in something, there is something that comes along to halt the progress and even set your progress back a couple of steps.
In other words, whenever there is any sort of progress made, there are going to be challenges that arise that challenge our progress.
How we deal with these challenges is ultimately what is going to determine whether we are successful in our pursuits over the long term or not.
There are two ways in which we can deal with setbacks: either give up, or prepare for a comeback.
A professional athlete knows that if whatever injury they sustain in their pursuits, unless it is career-ending, must prepare to make a comeback.
Meaning that the athlete needs to take the time off, rehab the injury, and prepare themselves mentally and physically to get back in the game and compete at the level they were competing at prior to the injury.
The comeback after a setback is always the most challenging feat to endure when in pursuit of something.
Not only can we be challenged physically, but the having to get back in the game mentally after having a setback is one of the most difficult challenges to overcome.
When progress is made and momentum is built, having that momentum come to a halt presents the largest obstacle in the sense that we have to regain the momentum we had already built up previously.
This feeling of starting over or starting from ground zero can be mentally, emotionally, and even physically exhausting under any circumstance.
When we know in the back of our minds that we had momentum built and now we are starting over, it creates a whole new level of stress for us to have to overcome to get back to performing at our previous level and continue furthering our progress.
If we set ourselves up for making a dramatic comeback, we make leaps and bounds in our progress forward.
We have all heard the phrase, "the comeback is greater than the setback", and that is because if we are successful in making a comeback in our pursuits, we progress that much more.
We gain confidence in the process of a comeback - confidence in our abilities to compete and confidence in our ability to refuse giving up.
No one can have true progress without being able to endure setbacks because setbacks are a natural consequence of pursuing something of greater purpose.
The ability to endure and to withstand these challenges will further reinforce our capabilities, as well as build our character by proving to ourselves that we are who we say that we are.