Setbacks as Stepping Stones

We often think of setbacks as obstacles or roadblocks that slow us down or even push us backward. But if we look closely, setbacks can actually be stepping stones, giving us the push we need to grow stronger, sharper, and more resilient.

I’ve experienced this many times in my own life. One of the most recent examples comes from my work with Jupyter Notebooks. For almost three years, I had been refining an automated analysis process. It wasn’t perfect, but it was working! Albeit...about 60–70% automated, which required manual intervention sprinkled throughout. Then, a seemingly minor change in Jupyter broke part of my workflow. Suddenly, what I thought was stable needed a complete rethink.

At first, it was frustrating. But instead of letting it defeat me, I used it as motivation to start fresh. I rebuilt the entire workflow from the ground up. It took long nights, weekends, and a lot of persistence, but the end result was better than anything I had before.

Now my process is 80–90% automated, more consistent, more uniform, and far cleaner. What used to take me days now takes far less. Within two months I was producing nearly twice the output. And the pride I feel in what I’ve built is greater than ever. Even better, I can share it with my co-workers and provide more value to clients, spending less time building analysis and more time consulting.

But setbacks don’t just happen in the technical world, they also shape our personal growth. Almost seven years ago, I went through a final-round interview for a role I really wanted. The day couldn’t have gone worse: two delayed flights, getting rerouted to a new airport, getting rained on, arriving home at 2 a.m....oh yeah, and then completely bombing the interview. The feedback stung: I lacked executive presence.

At the time, I took it as a failure. I wallowed in bed the entire next day. But in hindsight, it was a turning point. I still have that feedback saved as a reminder. And it’s driven me forward. Today, I’m the president of my Toastmasters Club. I regularly present to CEOs of financial institutions across the country. I speak at board meetings with confidence which I think my coworkers and former managers would say is something I didn’t have in my late twenties. That one bad interview didn’t define me, but it sparked a journey that has fundamentally changed who I am as a communicator.

The lesson is simple: setbacks hurt in the moment, but if you lean into them, they can fuel growth that lasts years. A broken workflow can push you to build something better. A failed interview can ignite a fire that makes you stronger than you ever imagined. The journey is never done, but every stumble can be turned into a stepping stone. It is up to you to choose to use it that way.