The beauty of rejection

We’ve all been rejected, whether it’s in love, a promotion or project. Rejection can be a source of tremendous hurt and pain, as it makes you feel tossed aside and abandoned. However, one of the ingredients of a successful career and life is 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, 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 personally.

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 had 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 goes on.

Become more focused. Sometimes when you have been rejected, it should cause you to pause, 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 simply a time for you to re-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 a red flag that you need to rid yourself of certain people so they don’t 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. You may get rejected tons of time, 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 scared to be rejected could cause you to die of heartache. Get tough, regroup and get back in the game!

Karen Hinds is “The Workplace Success Expert.” For a FREE SPECIAL REPORT on Avoiding Career Killers in the Workplace, send an email to info@workplacesuccess.com Visit online at www.workplacesuccess.com