APX-VI-0007
“I keep catastrophizing every setback into proof that I'll never succeed.”
Catastrophizing is authorship in reverse — you're writing a story where you lose before the chapter is over. A setback is data. It is not a verdict. Authors revise. They do not close the book.
Your Practice
The next time a setback hits, write three factual sentences about what actually happened — no narrative, no forecast, just facts. Then write one sentence about what the next move is. That sentence is your chapter. Start there.
The Architects
“Do not indulge in dreams of what you do not have, but count the blessings you actually possess.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations