Handling Rejection
Everybody suffers rejection at some time or another in their
life. The first step in handling rejection is to recognise that
rejection is a necessary part of our private and professional
lives. No success is achievable without encountering rejection
of some form along the way. It encourages us to hone our skills.
Let me use an example. Imagine that you are the author of a
novel. In order to get your novel published you are going to
have to send a manuscript to as many publishers as possible.
Unless you get lucky, you are likely to have a very high
rejection rate. However, this should not be viewed as failure,
but merely as a part of the natural process of success. Every
road to success includes backward steps as well as forward.
Publishing is famous for the high rates of rejection that new
authors encounter. If the publishers you have been in contact
with are complimentary about your work, then you should take
heart. However, if there is something at fault, it needs to be
changed. Then you can send in your work again. This process of
re-working your manuscript will bring it to the point where you
can be sure it is your best work. Your best work would not have
happened without the rejection.
Which brings us to step two. Step two is simply to acknowledge
the above i.e. that you are going to encounter rejection, no
matter how good you are, and change your mindset to embrace
this. I am not talking about trying to kid yourself, but if,
after careful consideration, you are happy that all is well,
then you should feel confident that the end result you desire
will come to fruition. In this particular example, that is
getting your book published.
Go into every fresh challenge with the knowledge that each
challenge is taking you one step closer to your goal. In
achieving your goal you are going to take backward steps, so
enjoy them, too, knowing that they are in effect moving you
forward. If you never got rejected, you would not get better at
what you do. Rejection is necessary for progress. This is the
mindset you need when you are handling rejection.