How to Overcome That Setback You Already Know Is Coming

Hey friends,

Maybe you’re like me, and when things are going well you start to feel this sense of dread… like you know something is just around the corner, waiting to mess everything up.

The cliche of “waiting for the other shoe to drop” where I’m not just worried about it happening, but actually expecting it to happen.

When the inevitable setback finally comes (which, let’s face it, is always going to happen eventually), I often make the mistake of responding to it with the attitude of “Ugh, I knew this wasn’t going to work out.”

Instead of dealing with the small stumble and getting back on our feet, we often just collapse and start to blame ourselves or think that we shouldn’t have even tried.

But the reality is—most things we try to accomplish are going to take longer and be more difficult than we want them to be.

And we are going to stumble. And stumble again!

Rather than see those as proof that it was doomed from the start, we should look at those as a sign of progress on doing something difficult. Yes, “of course” this was going to happen, but not because we’re a failure… it’s because we’re doing something difficult that takes long-term effort.

Stay curious,
Jesse J. Anderson

Here are some other fun things I’ve done lately:

🎙️ ADHD at Work, Life, and Love: A Deep Dive with Jesse J. Anderson

I had a wonderful conversation with Jen Barnes on The Self-Loved ADHD Woman Way podcast where we talked about a bunch of great topics including moving from shame to radical acceptance, something I think is so so important for people with ADHD! I really loved this conversation and recommend you check it out!

✍️ “My desk is a lot like my brain: absolute chaos.”

I was invited to be a guest on

Amy Suto

‘s excellent substack, Make Writing Your Job, where I shared the behind the scenes of my story as a writer, how I get inspired, and the crazy keyboard I use to write with. It was a lot of fun and I even share a few of my favorite writing strategies to help me get my writing done.