Have you been rejected before? Do you fear rejection? Do you avoid rejection at all costs?
I recently watched an Instagram post by Maureen Evelyn, who created the rejecto app (I have not tried it yet). She decided to make it a challenging game to get rejected everyday. She even applied to Harvard to get rejected, but she was waitlisted instead! She purposely did crazy things to get rejected – to get herself out of her comfort zone and try new things, without letting her fear of rejection stop her.
Her mindset posed a reflective question to me:
What if rejection wasn’t something to fear, but something to seek?”
You could embrace rejection in practical ways:
- Set Rejection Goals – like what Maureen is doing with her app, set rejection goals to achieve every day or week, make it into a game and get over the fear and embarrassment! If possible, make it fun or funny!
- Celebrate Every “No” – celebrate overcoming your fear, and let it be a stepping stone towards your goals, and cheer yourself for taking the courage in the first place.
- Reflect and Learn – ask yourself what you can learn from the experience and how to improve next time, you can learn to turn every rejection into a lesson.
You can start with small rejections. Every rejection helps you to desensitise from the fear, embarrassment and judgment of rejection. Eventually, you will build the muscles of courage to take bold actions towards your goals and dreams.
I believe that this Power of Seeking Rejection can help you overcome your fears and build resilience. In fact, it can lead to unexpected opportunities, learning and growth. By overcoming my fear of rejection and impostor syndrome, I have published not one, but three books, in the past two years!
This is my invitation to you today: challenge yourself to get rejected on a regular basis, build your muscles to combat rejection, and take action to pursue your boldest dreams!