Handling rejection

We’ve all been rejected, whether it’s in love or on the job.

Rejection can be a source of tremendous hurt and pain as it makes you feel tossed aside and abandoned. However, one of the ingredients to a successful career and life is for everyone to go through the process of being rejected at some point.{{more}}

So many people try to fit in and avoid being shunned when they are young that by the time they get to the workplace and an employer is looking for originality, they have lost their ability to think independently. They took the safe road and went along with the crowd instead of trying something different or standing up for what they believe in.

Some of the best ideas, books and performers were turned down at one point or another. The world-famous “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book series was turned down by over 100 publishers before it was picked up. Now it is a lucrative series grossing millions and selling worldwide.

A rejection may just be the thing you need to experience to refine your skills, ideas, professional associations, and even for you to realize your own personal and/ or professional worth.

Don’t take it personal. A young boy opened a small business to sell candy and soft drinks in his neighborhood. When he approached a few potential customers they immediately said no. Now the young boy has two choices – feel bad or move on. Because he was only eight years old, he just said, oh well, and moved on to the next potential customers. How many of you have that kind of attitude? Sometimes a rejection has nothing to do with you personally. It could be the wrong timing, budget related, the right people aren’t available, and the list can go on.

Become more focused. Sometimes when you have been rejected, it should cause you to pause and rethink your idea and take a closer look at what you are doing. It’s not a call to beat up on yourself, get anxious or cry, but it’s a time for you to examine what you are doing to ensure you are still on the right track. You have to learn to weigh the experience from an objective place. Is there value to the rejection, is it a call to push you further into excellence, is it purely a malicious attack on you or is it a red flag that you need to rid yourself of certain people as they pull you down? Whatever it is, get focused because you could be in for a fight.

Get mentally tough. People with great ideas and skills fail because they are not mentally prepared to fight for what they believe in and stay the course when the going gets rough and rejection after rejection flies in their faces. You will get rejected tons of times, but if you take each one as a learning experience, the next one will not be quite as devastating. So what if you get embarrassed a few times? Embarrassment never killed anyone, but a dream not fulfilled because you were too scared to be rejected could cause you to die of heartache. Grow up, get tough and get back in the game.

Karen Hinds is “The Workplace Success Expert” For a FREE SPECIAL REPORT on 7 Ways to Develop your Competitive Edge in the Workplace, send an email to info@workplacesuccess.com Visit online at www.workplacesuccess.com