How to Make a Comeback
Over the past few weeks, many of us will have been at our very lowest within our working and personal lives.
Uncertainty, panic, and confusion creates an environment of disorder incredibly difficult to detach from. Despite constant pulls on our fears, it is important to realise that the current global pandemic is just another negative blip in the history of humanity, that like all others before it, shall pass.
Yes, this viewpoint seems impossible for many to entertain at present. But in however many months’ time, we all will have to return to our ‘normal lives’. These lives may be permanently different, whether this be how we structure our work or a newfound sense of what truly is important. But things will, for the most part, go back to normal.
We will all have to bounce back from adversity. We will all have to prise ourselves out of holes of failure and immense losses. Quite simply, we will all have to make a comeback.
Because of this, it is important to dissect the true essence of a ‘comeback’. What is it that enables an individual or a team to succeed after a period in which that looked near on impossible? How do such comebacks occur? And can they be actively cultivated?
Each comeback is its own story, with its own set of unique elements that in combination create an event that bewilders and leaves a lump in the throat of many. But there are a few key components that if not universal to all comebacks, are at least indicative of a majority.
1) Kickstarting Psychological Momentum
In 2005, Liverpool trailed AC Milan 0-3 at half-time in the Champions League final. Milan had decimated Liverpool in the first half and it was unfathomable for any sane supporter to hope for anything more than avoiding further embarrassment within the next 45 minutes.
After easing their way into the second half, Liverpool reached a turning point in the 54th minute. After having an initial cross blocked, John Arne Riise was afforded another opportunity to whip the ball into the box after it kindly bounced straight back to his feet.
Just to the left of the penalty spot, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard leapt, hung in the air, and thrust his neck to head the ball into the net.
It seemingly came out of nowhere. Aside from cutting the score to 1-3, this moment felt as though it halted the seamless rhythm and sense of control Milan had held the entire match.
Gerrard and his teammates immediately ran back to the centre circle to recommence the match. The cameras showed Gerrard throwing up both arms several times to the Liverpool supporters in each corner of the stadium, in the hope they would show hope.
He got a response from them. Roars began to fill the stadium, tens of thousands of battle cries willing on Gerrard and his teammates. The match commentator uttered “That goal has just…. changed the mood."
Within 5 minutes, Liverpool were level at 3-3. And the rest is history.
What Gerrard’s goal kickstarted was psychological momentum - the positive or negative change in cognition and behaviour caused by an event that affects either the perceptions of the competitors or, perhaps, the quality of performance and the outcome of the competition.
The goal was a turning point. It started a domino effect. It set the direction towards a pathway of success.
To achieve this momentum one doesn’t need something as significant as a goal. In sport we see this momentum can come from a simple defensive block, a smooth overtake of an opponent, or preventing them from winning a match point. Time and time again these instances act as turning points that subsequently lead to unlikely comebacks.
The same goes in the pursuit of productivity after a week or two of unsettling panic and disruption.
You do not need a big win. Start small. We think of things like making your bed to immediately ‘win the day' as trite. But people ignore that it is not the act that is important. Instead, it is what comes from the action. It is the start of momentum, an ignition point, the first domino.
When making a comeback you just have to find your first few dominoes.
Don’t think about how you’re going to be able to run again after a serious knee injury. Just do your three sets of leg raises today.
Don’t think about how you’re going to land new clients to replace the 80% of your income you’ve lost during the global pandemic. Just make five calls to prospects.
Such examples will change your cognition, either consciously or subconsciously. Your perceptions will change surrounding the likelihood of success. This will create the psychological momentum that fuels a comeback.
2) Set Process Goals
The second component of making a comeback directly follows on from the first. Psychological momentum occurs because of movement, which itself is the result of action.
It’s therefore essential to focus on actions instead of outcomes. The outcomes when we’re at rock bottom are often out of our hands. But we still have control over our actions i.e. the process.
To start building up again from defeat one must therefore set process goals rather than outcome goals.
Productivity expert David Allen offers a simple but effective tip for getting out of an unproductive hole. Instead of mapping out the entire pathway towards an end outcome just ask yourself “what’s my next action?”
Such a question narrows focus and attention onto something tangible that can be carried out or implemented there and then. This is vital when the end outcome remains at least in some part an uncontrollable.
An inspiring example of this comes through Ryan Holiday’s summary of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, in Holiday’s book “The Obstacle is the Way”.
Carter was falsely imprisoned for a triple homicide at the peak of his career in the 1960s. Upon starting his sentence he stated to the prison warden and guards “I know you had nothing to do with the injustice that brought me to this jail, so I’m willing to stay here until I get out. But I will not, under any circumstances, be treated like a prisoner - because I am not and never will be powerless.”
Carter then spent every waking second on fighting his legal case. He read countless books on law, history, and philosophy. He did not spend one second lamenting the fact he was serving a life sentence.
He forgot about the outcome and focused on the process.
It took nineteen years and two trials to overturn his conviction. And when freed, Carter simply resumed his life as normal. He did not seek damages or even ask for an apology.
He just focused on each and every next action, day after day, month after month, and year after year.
A comeback is itself an outcome but if you look closer it’s actually more so a process. And this is particularly the case when the outcome is encased within the unknown.
So if you don’t know when your sports season will resume, just focus on doing your workout each day.
If you don’t know how you’re going to pay rent at the end of the month, just focus on putting in that next job application.
This is by no means easy as the end outcomes are rightly terrifying.
But that terror can and will subside the more action-oriented you become.
3) Seek Advice From Those Who Have Been There
When we’re at our worst it becomes easy to fall into the repeated trap of the pessimism bias - the tendency to overestimate negative things will happen to oneself.
This can become a vicious cycle when millions of others around the world are simultaneously at their worst also.
What many people don’t realise is that they are self-sabotaging when perusing the infinite feed of Twitter that continues to spread fear, panic, and perpetual negativity. This only serves to reinforce our sense of failure or loss and compounds any feelings one may have surrounding the view that ‘things will get worse before they get better’.
Yet during any personal crises what most fail to recognise are three essential truths
- There have been people throughout history who have experienced worse things
- There have been many people who have managed to overcome these things and make astonishing comebacks
- These comebacks have been documented in books, films, and all other manner of content
What these three truths enable is a partial or complete roadmap back to normalcy or success.
Instead of immersing oneself in the blind pessimism of self-appointed scholars on Twitter, one should actively seek advice from those who have experienced defeat, loss, or tragedy, and still managed to come through stronger.
Time previously spent feeling sorry for oneself could be spent learning how Bethany Hamilton won national surfing titles two years after losing her arm to a shark attack at the age of 13.
Time previously spent complaining could be spent learning how mountaineer Joe Simpson survived a 150ft plunge with a broken leg and somehow manage to crawl 6.5 miles over four days back to base-camp.
Time previously spent thinking things won’t get better could be spent learning how Viktor Frankl survived three years in a concentration camp and mustered the mental strength to devote the rest of his life to helping thousands of others find meaning and purpose in their lives.
Above are three of countless true accounts out there that show we are all capable of what’s termed post-traumatic growth - the process of experiencing positive psychological change as a result of experiencing adversity.
This is something anyone can experience. It is just a matter of perception. There is a choice to accept failure, loss, or defeat as permanent. But there is also a choice to learn from such experiences and see them as challenges to overcome.
Guidance from others who have been in worse positions will help you make the right choice.
Conclusion
A comeback is always possible irrespective of the negative experience that has preceded it.
Halting the development of a rut through a spark of psychological momentum is the essential first step to get back on one’s feet. It’s then paramount that focus is applied to the process and daily simple “next actions” are carried out day in, day out. And finally, time should be spent on learning lessons that can be taken from countless others who have been through far worse and still became more successful than ever before.
Each comeback will of course involve its own unique set of ingredients; some will be smoother whilst others will be laden with setback after setback.
But the three core components outlined in this article are enough to carry anyone through almost any hardship.
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What else do you think is key to making a successful comeback? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.