- the dismissing or refusing of a proposal, idea, etc.
You didn’t get that text back or your university application got rejected… Better yet, you went through all the steps in that Tesco application, plus the ridiculous questionnaire, just to get rejected in under 20-minutes. We’ve definitely all been there. Yet, amidst the daily rejection we face, sometimes it’s genuinely hard to firm it.
Now I’ll admit, I don’t often take rejection well. In fact, I often avoid “shooting my shot”, personally or professionally, so that I can avoid the slight chance of getting rejected. Very childish, I know.
The thing is, rejection builds character. It will play a role in the growth of a person, whether its you personally or even your side hustle. Of course it isn’t easy to keep pushing forward when you may be facing rejection after rejection, but it is not something that should affect how happy you are.
While I’m far from an expert, here are some small small tips that I find helpful when it comes to learning how to firm rejection.
1. Don’t Take Rejection Personal.
First of all, you have to acknowledge that rejection says nothing about you as a person. Like I said before, rejection is a way of life, it’s inevitable, not a personal attack. You have to realise and respect that the person is rejecting a situation, or proposal, that doesn’t work for them. Not you, but simply the request you made.
For instance, you DM someone on Twitter asking for their number and they say ‘no’. It simply means the person isn’t interested in your request, it doesn’t make you any less of a great person.
2. Work On What You Do Have to Offer.
While you may have been rejected by that person or that job, that doesn’t mean you’ll continue to get rejected. Continue to ‘work on yourself’, remind yourself of that good qualities that you do have to offer and show those qualities.
So if you keep getting rejected from those job applications, build that CV. Your DMs keep getting aired? Try a new approach.
3. Don’t Let It Define You.
Once you accept that rejection is inevitable, and that it happens to everyone you then need to learn to fail fast and then get over it. People fail, it’s human. Yet you need to realise that you are much more than that rejected opportunity. Nobody is perfect, and that’s the beauty of it.
4. Is There A Lesson To Be Learned?
Take time out to pause and assess the situation. Ideally, rejection is a chance for you to decide if you’re making the right decisions, either in your love life, or your career. Use rejection as a lesson, a chance to try the same thing again through a different strategy.
5. Don’t Change Who You Are.
Lastly, you should never let rejection change who you are or what you want to accomplish for yourself. Understandably it is hard to face rejection after you put in bucket loads of effort, but that rejection is just a temporary setback. Use this as a way to regain your confidence, afterall rejection is just redirection.
Admittedly, rejection doesn’t and will probably never feel great. To be honest, it may even feel unfathomable however it’s how you bounce back that determines your happiness.
“Rejection is the one constant of human experience.” – Howard Jacobson
How do you deal with rejection? Let me know!
love,
S♡