Are You Successfully Dealing With Rejection?

Life happens, but when it does, are you successfully dealing with rejection? Rejection can sting, but it doesn’t have to derail you. It’s a part of life that everyone must face. And sometimes, rejection births the most wonderfully unexpected outcomes. While rejection isn’t enjoyable, it’s rarely fatal, and always an opportunity for growth. Luckily, there are simple strategies you can use to help you turn rejection into a stepping-stone for long-term success. Be resilient and keep rejection in perspective.

8 Strategies for Successfully Dealing With Rejection

Try these tips to deal with rejection quickly and effectively, so you can move on:

1. Take a short break.

   • Whether it’s from a potential romantic partner, your boss, or a Hollywood director. Take a break from thinking about the source of rejection.
   • Take time to grieve and pull yourself together, staying aware not to get stuck there.
   • Reengage with your life. Rejection isn’t fatal. Take the time you need, but get back out there and let what’s meant for you to come into your life.

2. Realize that many other opportunities exist.

   • How many potential opportunities, relationships and adventures exist in the world? Millions. Another door will open. The only people that don’t get rejected are at home on the couch.
   • There are plenty of opportunities in your future. Many of them are far better than your recent miss.

3. Learn from the rejection.

   3. Was there something that you could have done better? Take the opportunity to really look at the rejection and learn from it. If you can learn one small thing from each negative experience in your life, you’ll have far fewer of them.
   4. If appropriate, ask what you can do to improve. Listen closely to the answers you receive and integrate the feedback.
   5. Some quests have a low success rate. What was the actual likelihood of this working out?. Accept that a certain amount of rejection is part of any endeavor.

4. Avoid automatically assuming that the reason for the rejection is related to you.

   • For instance, there are hundreds of reasons why opportunities, plans, dates, and projects get denied that have nothing to do with you personally:
     • This belongs to someone else.
     • The timing wasn’t quite right.
     • There is more to learn and develop.

5. Remember that each rejection is bringing you closer to success.

   • How can you fail if you avoid quitting? You won’t. Pivot, adjust your sails and keep shining on. Eventually you will find the success you’re seeking. Every “no” is another step closer to a “yes.”

6. Remember that everyone deals with rejection.

   • The most successful people get rejected the most. They just do a graceful job of forging ahead, and you can too.

7. Monitor your self-talk.

   • Keep your thoughts positive and upbeat. External rejection is not a good enough reason to tear yourself apart on the inside. Set your inner-critic back up on the shelf.  A poor mood and dreary expectations give poor results. Say good things to yourself instead. Good things will happen. This is just a little bump in the road; let it steer you closer to where you’re going.

8. Treat yourself well.

   • A failure isn’t an excuse to mistreat yourself. Stay aware of your default coping mechanisms. Overeating, consumption of alcohol, or excessive spending isn’t the answer. Center yourself on what you know nourishes your mind, body, and spirit in the best ways. Celebrate the fact that you made an effort. Maybe your rejection deserves a small reward. Perhaps successfully dealing with rejection is the first step towards a whole new level of awesome.

Rejection is just an undesired outcome. Remember, no matter how focused you get at times, there are always more possibilities than we are currently aware of. Learn, grow, and try again.

You Are Resilient.

Stay Connected.