The real sting of a setback isn't the loss itself—it's the story we instantly write afterward, the one where we cast ourselves as permanently diminished. Fitzgerald understood that our minds have a terrible habit of telescoping a single moment into a lifetime, treating one rejection letter or failed business venture as prophetic doom. What separates the people who eventually succeed from those who don't is precisely this: the stubborn refusal to let Tuesday's closed door become Wednesday's settled fate. A young musician who bombs an audition can stay home and accept the identity of "someone who can't perform," or she can book another audition next month and treat the first failure as information rather than verdict.