At this point in your life, there's no greater feeling than the one of having your hopes elevate as you progress through each round of interviews with that one company you dreamed of working for since you started college. Then, reality kicks in. You get that dreaded email, which you thought you were immune to that starts off with something along the lines of, "We regret to inform you..."
You already began visualizing what your bank account would look like after your first paycheck, but now the plan has to be scrapped. Where do you go from here?
Back To The Drawing Board
The most important part of facing rejection is not losing your momentum. In any situation, may it be looking for a job or starting up a business, you need to make sure to push even harder.
If everyone who faced rejection sat down and gave up on that ambition, where would society be today? Most of the movers and shakers of today had menial jobs prior to their success: Simon Cowell, J. Cole, and let’s not forget Jay Z.
Take a good look at any time of rejection that you endured during your life. Surely you if you look closely enough, you will realize that many lessons could be learned. Possibly, you would do more research on a topic before going to an interview, or maybe you can sharpen up your presentation skills for the next time you’re in front of a banker for that small business loan.
Either way rejection is sometimes (if not most times) the greatest opportunity that we can face because it allows us to examine what we did wrong and collect how we can resolve to do better for the next time. No matter what, a next time is coming if we stay steadfast in our goals and don’t give up.
About 90% percent of first time business owners fail within a year of opening their first business. But did you know that 80% of those same people who fail end up succeeding the second time around? The fact of the matter is that we must learn from our mistakes.
One Step Closer To “Yes!”
When rejection comes our way we tend to think only negative thoughts. When we don't get something we want, it's natural to start believing that maybe we aren't good enough for it. Instead of reminiscing on why everything isn't going in the direction we want it to go, maybe we should start thinking thoughts of what else is out there for us. Put this thought in your head: Every time we are told "no" it’s because we are one step closer to "yes." If you knew that you had to go through 100 doors in order to win a prize, would door 12 stop you? Door 30? I don't think so because you know in advance that your prize is waiting for you. The question is, how long are you willing to wait?
Therefore, it’s imperative to remember that a state of rejection is essentially just a step that you have to conquer to get to that “yes.” Acceptance is out there, but are you willing to put in the time and effort to work for it?
The hardest part of rejection is the timing. As Generation-Y, we want everything as quickly as possible. Instantaneously, from the time the dream is conceived, we expect it to come to fruition shortly after, immediate gratification. But anything that comes both easily and quickly will leave just as easily and quickly.
Know your worth. When you know that both you and your work are worth great value, you'll understand that you'll have to go through the trenches in order to get to the mountaintop of success. It's the journey that makes us who we are. Our past experiences always define how we react to our current and future ones.
Personally, I’ve been through several vigorous interview processes. I've traveled across the country just to be rejected the next day. Sure, I took it hard, but I also took knowledge and lesson away from it. What I did wrong with each passing interview, I did correctly the next time.
The takeaway from this is that the world is at our fingertips. Today you could be folding clothes in Macy's and tomorrow you could be backstage at your fashion show during New York Fashion Week. It may be a long and hard road, but if you take rejection with a positive stance, eventually that "yes" will come to you, and it will be worth even more to you when it does.
Top Photo Courtesy: Tumblr
