The Comeback Formula (Awake, Inventory, Partner)
A comeback is not a go back.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 90%
Storey, known as the original comeback coach, starts with expectation management: setbacks are bugs on the windshield. Drive Miami to Orlando at the wrong time of year and bugs will hit — that is not a driving error. People will leave you, copy your plan, deceive you, betray you. Given that, the comeback runs three moves. First become awake — actually see what happened, whether that's someone stealing your ideas or you scaling too fast. Second, take inventory across mindset, thought process, energy, team, and finances. Third, partner with the right people, asking what their strengths are and how they can educate you up and out. Underneath it all sits his signature line: a comeback is not a go back.
Origin
The line 'a comeback is not a go back' was coined at a lunch in New York with Gayle King of CBS Morning News. She asked whether he said it all the time; he said no; she told him to write it down immediately. His own comeback credentials trace to his father being killed by a driver running a red light, leaving a non-driving, Spanish-speaking mother with five children.
Core principles
- 01Setbacks are guaranteed — bugs on the windshield, not evidence of failure.
- 02The first move in a setback is to wake up and see it accurately.
- 03You cannot rebuild without an honest inventory across mindset, energy, team and finances.
- 04You do not come back alone — partner with people whose strengths educate you up and out.
- 05A comeback is forward motion, not restoration of the old thing.
How to run it
- 1
Expect bugs on the windshield
Before the setback, accept its inevitability. If you're an entrepreneur starting something, people will leave, duplicate, deceive and betray. Budget for it rather than being ambushed by it.
Watch out Believing you can avoid setbacks is what makes them devastating when they land.
- 2
Become awake
In the midst of the setback, snap into clear sight and name what actually happened: that person stole my ideas, that person took my money, I tried to scale too fast.
Pro tip Storey's word for it is 'Whoa — okay, what's happening here?' The pause is the point.
- 3
Take inventory
Run the full audit: where's my mindset, where's my thought process, where's my energy, what's my team like, where's my financial situation. Honest numbers, not a vibe.
Watch out Skipping the inventory means you rebuild on the same weak spot that broke.
- 4
Partner with the right people
Identify people whose strengths cover your gaps and ask how they can educate you up and out. Storey frames this as a requirement, not a nice-to-have.
- 5
Go forward, not back
Resist the belief that fixing the old thing — the failed business, the estranged relationship — is the recovery. Learn from the setback, grow from it, then move forward.
Watch out The go-back instinct is strongest with family and exes, and it's where people lose the most years.
In the wild
Over lunch in New York, Storey told Gayle King 'a comeback is not a go back.' She asked if he said it all the time. He said no. She told him not to forget it and to write it down right then.
→ The line became his signature principle and the anchor of his comeback coaching.
His father was driving to collect food for his mother when a man ran a red light and killed him instantly. The family had just moved up from a two-bedroom apartment to a small three-bedroom house. The head of the family was gone, his mother did not drive and spoke very broken English.
→ Storey went on to speak internationally from age 18 — a comeback that went forward into a new life rather than trying to restore the old one.
Common mistakes
Treating a setback as a verdict
Bugs hit every windshield on that drive. Reading a setback as proof you shouldn't be driving confuses weather with direction.
Rebuilding before taking inventory
Jumping straight to the next venture without auditing mindset, energy, team and finances imports the exact weakness that caused the collapse.
Confusing a go back with a comeback
People believe 'if I go back and fix this, I'll be okay' — with the ex, the sister, the failed company. Storey says that instinct is the trap.
Is it for you?
Best for
Entrepreneurs after a failed company, and anyone whose momentum was interrupted by betrayal, theft, or overscaling.
Not ideal for
Situations where the setback is ongoing trauma requiring clinical care rather than a strategic restart.
From the transcript
“The first thing you have to understand is that a setback is always going to happen. So I call it bugs on the windshield.”
“Number one, when you're in a setback, you have to become awake. Secondly, you have to take inventory... Number three, you have to partner with…”
“A comeback is not a go back. No, we have to just learn from our setbacks, grow from our setbacks and then just go forward.”
From the episode
Tim Storey: The Mindset Shift That Turns Setbacks into Extraordinary Comebacks
Tim Storey