Lifestyle

What 'No' Really Means: Your Mindset In That Potentially Crushing Moment Is Everything

by Danielle Bryan

We've all daydreamed about a new opportunity, a hot date with a crush or taking on an adventure of a lifetime.

We spend countless days, hours and minutes trying to figure out what exactly we want, and suddenly, it all makes perfect sense!

So you puff out your chest, muster up all the courage you have, realize going after your dreams could be a HUGE risk and just go for it. Once you decide to take the plunge, you prepare and lie awake at night wondering, “What if this actually happens for me?!"

You go through thousands of scenarios in your head about how a new opportunity or dream date or adventure could lead you right up to euphoria's door.

Excitement builds, you watch motivational videos, your heart flutters and you do everything in your power to prepare for that moment when the person who holds your very fragile fate in their hands tells you... “No.”

No, you didn't get the job. No, that person doesn't want to go out on a date with you. No, you can't take on the adventure of your lifetime. Just, no.

The milliseconds that follow those two letters that ultimately crush your heart seem to go on for hours. The heart that was fluttering is now in the pit of your stomach and an immediate fog drops over your once-so-shiny aura.

This is a pivotal moment, one when so many people fall into an invisible hole of despair and call on the trumpets for a pity party that could last, well, forever.

However, you won’t fall and there will be no trumpets. Next time you are turned down and someone tells you "no," you will use the experience as inspiration for the opportunity to grow.

"No" is actually where the magic happens. "No" is where do-ers are born. "No" makes me hustle more than anything else. "No" is what separates the grit from living life in a fog.

The most disheartening thing in the world to see is someone who has lost his or her sparkle for life because he or she took a rejection to heart. Sure, it hurts, but you can't let it hurt for too long.

Let rejection be your signal to go back to the drawing board with more enthusiasm than ever and devise a brand new plan.

The most successful people know how to take a “no” and use it to do things differently the next time. Many of the world’s self-made millionaires didn't become so highly successful because their first ideas were genius and everyone loved them.

No, they were turned down. Doors were slammed in their faces. Naysayers told them they would fail. Still, they believed, they persevered and they didn't let one small, two-letter word stop them from getting to exactly where they wanted to be.

It's not at easy to take a rejection with a grain of salt and keeping your chin up. However, you have the power to control your emotions, to come up with some incredible ideas, to fall in love with someone who deserves you and to make your life full of adventures.

Our time is limited. Don't let "no" rain on your parade; just keep marching onward.

Photo via We Heart It