A rough start doesn’t lock in the ending. Ask anyone who finished a race after falling at the gun.

An early mistake feels final because it arrives with so much noise, and because the rest of the race has not happened yet to argue with it. Races are long. People fall at the gun and still finish, sometimes well, because position at the start and position at the end are separate measurements. What a rough start takes is composure, and composure comes back.

When something opens badly, give yourself one quick decision instead of a long verdict: what is the next thing I do. First week of term, first shift, first chapter of a project. Judge it at the halfway point, not in the first ten minutes.