You Will Get Rejected And That’s Okay
Don’t let it discourage you. Instead, learn how you can use it for your own benefit.
Being rejected sucks. That miserable feeling — your expectations and hopes are being crushed, the awkwardness of the moment is almost unbearable and it can basically kill any aspiration you might have had. And it leaves you with one questions — “Why am I not good enough?”
Well, rejection isn’t always about being good, but rather being a proper fit for a certain project. Imagine this, if you are writing heartwarming profound poems, you can’t expect them to be published in a popular business-focused magazine. By no means would that make your poems inferior! The fit just isn’t right. Don’t take it personally, sometimes your proposal is just not matching the other party’s interests or purpose.
I can’t even count the number of times I and my idea ideas have been rejected — from love life to business projects rejection been always there by my side. Learning how to overcome the initial disappointment and move on with the knowledge and the experience taken from the situation helped me a lot both at work and personal life.
How many people that we all know and admire had to face it before they succeeded? J.K. Rowling, Walt Disney, Stephen King, Oprah Winfrey, Thomas Edison — those are only a few names on the list. One thing that unites these people is that they still made it big and didn’t give up.
Let’s face it — rejection is a part of any creative process, by which I mean any doing that you invest yourself it — from art to business ventures. If you want to take your doing to the next level, you will have to face rejection.
A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success. Bo Bennett
Rejection isn’t a failure.
Why rejection is good for you
We are used to thinking of rejection as a negative concept. To benefit from it, first of all, you need to change your attitude to it. Just like feedback, rejection shows you the areas that can be revised and adjusted when you stop thinking of it as a setback on your way.
The value of rejection is that it can be a great source of information for improvement if you choose to see it as an unbiased opinion. It can help you find new ways, see the problem from a different point of view, rethink your approach and make adjustments where necessary.
The more you get rejected, the easier it gets to get over the disappointment and focus on the point that you can take away and use for your advantage in the future.
Another unexpected benefit is that rejection makes you more patient. How many times do you need to hear “No” straight in your face before losing it? Every time it gets a little bit easier.
How you can lower the chances of being rejected
Even though rejection can be used as the source of valuable feedback, it is important to learn from your experience and master your approach in a way that will minimize the chance of rejection.
Start by doing your research. Find ventures that best fit your doing and approach them instead of wasting time on something that may look awesome but is less likely to work out. You can always come back to it later once you’ve learned and practised how to present yourself and your ideas in a way that would fit anywhere.
Don’t overthink it and keep your expectations real. If you put to much pressure and importance on something, the rejection will be much more painful than if you can accept the other options and be ready to get into them.
Make your request as clear as possible to avoid your ideas to get lost in translation. Misunderstanding can be a big obstacle even if your proposal is a great fit. There is a reason why pitching is so hard to master, but once you’ve done it you’ll be able to communicate your ideas in the best way possible.
Learn from your previous experience. Treat rejection as feedback but don’t forget to put that information into use instead of making the same mistake twice. It doesn’t necessarily mean change the way that you are doing things, but most certainly look at your approach from a different point of view.
And finally, be ready to move on if it doesn’t work out. After all, there might be a better option waiting for you ahead.
