What a comeback by the New York Knicks a few days ago! The largest one in NBA finals history. This got me thinking: How can someone be losing by 29 points, enter the 4th quarter losing by 20 points and still be able to push through and win? Even if you don´t like basketball (or sports), there is still a lot of relevance with how we often view comebacks in our own lives and careers. We admire them when we see them in athletes, leaders, or colleagues, but when we're the ones facing setbacks, we often expect ourselves to recover instantly. The reality is that great comebacks are rarely built on motivation alone... they are built on systems. This is what we´ll cover today.

Tip of the Week: When you're behind, don't focus on catching up all at once. Build a system that helps you win the next possession, then the next one after that.

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The Theory Behind

Growth Mindset explains why setbacks are not permanent. In Mindset, psychologist Carol Dweck argues that high performers view abilities as developable rather than fixed. A loss, mistake, or failed project is not evidence of a permanent limitation, but actually serves as information on what to work on. This is why great athletes review game footage after defeats and why effective professionals conduct post-mortems after setbacks. The question shifts from "Did I fail?" to "What can I learn?" Every comeback starts with believing improvement is possible.

The Stockdale Paradox teaches us to balance optimism with reality. Admiral James Stockdale, whose story was popularized in Jim Collins' Good to Great, survived years as a prisoner of war by holding two seemingly contradictory beliefs at the same time: maintaining faith that he would prevail while confronting the brutal facts of his current situation. The best comebacks work the same way. We cannot recover if we deny reality, but we also cannot recover if we lose hope. Effective people acknowledge the scoreboard while believing they can still change the outcome.

The Progress Principle shows why momentum matters. In The Progress Principle, Teresa Amabile found that one of the biggest drivers of motivation is making progress on meaningful work. This explains why comebacks often accelerate over time. Early progress creates confidence, confidence fuels action, and action creates more progress. What initially feels impossible starts to feel achievable. Momentum comes as the result of repeatedly moving forward, even when progress seems small.

What I’ve Learned

The Knicks made their comeback in a quarter, maybe yours can take a little longer, and that´s OK. Atomic Habits reminds us that dramatic results come from small actions. James Clear argues that success is rarely the result of one massive breakthrough. Instead, it comes from small improvements compounded over time. Maybe you are 20 points behind, but you still need to focus on the next posession; otherwise, you might get overwhelmed by the whole thing and want to quit. In my experience, the path forward is usually built through small daily wins rather than heroic efforts.

Make It Happen

1. Accept the scoreboard. Define the setback clearly and honestly. Avoid minimizing it or catastrophizing it. Start with reality.

2. Identify what remains under your control. Separate what happened from what you can influence next.

3. Break the recovery into small wins. Define your next action that can be completed rather than focusing on the entire comeback at once.

4. Create a feedback loop and track your momentum. Schedule a weekly review to evaluate progress and adjust your approach.

5. Build your support team. Athletes have coaches, teammates, and trainers. Identify the people who can provide perspective, accountability, and encouragement.

6. Celebrate progress. Every comeback is made up of dozens of small victories. Recognize them as they happen.

Remember: champions don't win because they never fall behind. They win because they know how to respond when they do. Like Miles David used to say "If you hit a wrong note, it´s the next note that you play that determines if it´s good or bad."

Even the best fall down sometimes,

Jorge Luis Pando

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