What are some ways to stay motivated when faced with rejection?

Rejection is your "friend". It trains you to become stronger, helps you to get more focused on things that bring you results, tells you what you can improve, and often saves you from joining companies that couldn't recognize your potential and strengths in a job interview. As you can see, rejection shouldn't always be a scary thing.

Keep a growing mindset. This difficulty of today is preparing you for tomorrow. It is almost unavoidable to learn without difficulties and rejection. Rejection is part of life, and the more we get used to it and play with it, the easier it becomes and we will care less and less. We are all different so it makes no sense looking to be popular all the time. It is simply impossible.

We are humans and we feel emotions. Both good and bad. And it's okay to feel bad emotions. Don't beat yourself up for feeling something. Those are just thoughts. You're not your thoughts. Just acknowledge the thought or the emotion.

As a Sales Professional, I learned early in my career that you must “know your numbers”. When I first started right out of college, I was a “smile and dial” investment broker for a small boutique Investment Banking firm based in San Francisco. My numbers there were 300 dials, to talk to 75 people, to find 15 leads, to close 1 deal - each day! Admittedly, it was a brutal process. But, it was a clear reminder not to get all worked up about any 1 conversion that might go south. You learn early on that every “No” is just 1 closer to your eventual “Yes”. Believe in your process, continue on with your activities, and keep moving forward. Fall down 7 times, stand up 8…

Rejections are a part of life; not everyone and every opportunity will resonate with you. The best thing to do is to acknowledge your feelings for a few hours and then get back to work, moving on to the next thing. That's all.

Rejection doesn't mean that you're not good enough. It's just that your attributes don't align with the other person or organization. You need to understand the situation a bit more. Do you want to align with them? - If yes, work on yourself and build the skills. - If not, the world is full of other opportunities, you'll always find more chances that align well with you. Think of it like this, the misalignment could've really hampered your growth too. So, better late than a bad "yes".

One of the most powerful and effective responses to rejection is to reframe the experience as an opportunity to learn. It's not easy, but it is possible. Acknowledge your emotions, then take a step back and try to clearly describe what went well and what you could improve on next time. It's also worth noting a lesson from the high-performance world of F1: a race-winning strategy is characterised by the speed of recalibration – how quickly the team can adapt to unexpected events.

I believe the biggest challenge we have is we believe we shouldn't experience failure and rejection and that it should work out every time, even though we rationally know that's not the case. I believe we need a new perspective, one in which rejection is only a temporary setback, something that makes us want to succeed ever more. We also need to address the new perspective of time, we want everything now and we celebrate achievements, instead of progress. Bigger projects will take time and progress and consistency is the only thing that will count in the long run

Another way to reframe rejection is to realize the following: rejection for a role or project does not necessarily mean that you would not have been able to do it. It just means that there is someone who seemed to be able to do it better. Strengths and weaknesses are only a part of the reason why someone is selected. It is also about how they present themselves, which parts of themselves they highlight and the preparation and research they do ahead of time. Realize that you may have 99% of the formal skillset needed for something, and getting an extra 1% might be very hard. But if you spend a little more time on presenting yourself the right way and go from 20% to 70%, you will see a much bigger impact on the end result.

Smiling and taking a deep breath can help us conserve energy when dealing with rejection. Remember that rejection is temporary, and with unwavering determination, you can make a strong comeback.

Rejections are our best ‘Teachers’. We can learn many new things while being rejected. Rejection should be taken in a positive way as it opens door to new opportunities and learnings. One can ask the experts for a constructive feedback and prepare efficiently for the next move.

It's also important to identify the fear of rejection. Fear of rejection can manifest itself in different ways, and can vary from person to person. Deliberately avoiding interactions with others; Social anxiety during social interactions, especially with strangers or in new situations; Constantly criticizing oneself, believing that we are not worthy of love or acceptance; Excessive dependence on the approval and acceptance of others Sabotaging personal or professional opportunities Difficulty in establishing genuine, intimate relationships: Perfectionism: striving to be perfect even when this is unrealistic or harmful to mental health; Isolation even if you desire the company of others; Avoiding confrontation or disagreement

Seeking support is a positive thing you can do. If you have mentors do directly go to them and discuss in details what you have done. Ask them for clarification and what you have done wrong. This is best as mentors usually gone through such situation as you are going through.

A close mentor of mine once told me to keep "your imaginary board of directors" you can call on anytime you need help or support. These are trusted mentors or close family members who would do anything to cheer you on. They know your greatness and will be there for you, just a phone call or message away.

You can also join groups or communities that share your interests, values, or goals. Rejection is not the end of the road, but an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve. By using these strategies, you can stay motivated and resilient in the face of rejection. Remember, every rejection brings you closer to your success.

In my experience, celebrating your efforts and achievements softens the blow of rejection. For instance, if a project proposal is rejected, applauding the hard work and creativity put into it can shift focus from loss to growth. This celebration, whether it's acknowledging a new skill or enjoying the journey, fuels motivation, fostering a positive outlook that helps in bouncing back and pressing forward. Over time, this practice nurtures resilience, making it easier to navigate through rejections and stay on course towards your goals.

At the end of each day, on your commute home, reflect on 1 thing you learned from the day. This can be about an interaction you had or from a task you completed. Really visualize the learning, imagining the lesson you learned. The end of day reflection is a celebration of your ability to continue to learn from your experiences leading to growth and transformation.

I've found that we can only build upon success and positive momentum. Just think about it, would you listen to someone who talks negatively to you or let you know of all your flaws? I bet you will be more motivated if someone lifts you up and encourages you. Thus, treat yourself the same way by celebrating small wins, appreciate the progress you are making and reflect on what is working and what is not working. The key is to identify patterns so that you can repeat what works, skip the other parts, and use what works to create positive change.

Usually we minimize our success. We look at it like 'anyone could have achieved that'. Remembering and celebrating our achievements helps build resilience for those days when we are not feeling very good about ourselves because of rejection.

Totally agree: + Why you get rejected? Find out reasons and think of how to improve it + We get improved by failure, without failure how do we know what we are not good at, what we need to improve + Successfully correcting mistakes and failure is a good feeling

In my experience, post-rejection is a prime time to set new goals and draft action plans. This shift redirects your energy from disappointment to action. For instance, a job rejection can spark the goal to enhance certain skills. Crafting an action plan, like enrolling in a relevant course, sets a concrete path forward. This process not only channels the emotions from rejection constructively but also rekindles motivation, turning setbacks into setups for future successes.

Almost on a daily basis good things and bad things happen to us. The magnitude might not be the same but if you practice the attitude of gratitude long enough, you will start noticing the good around you even on what seems like the worst of days, even after experiencing rejection.

Optimism is very important in life. Everything you do may not be successful. You can try your best and give your best. But sometimes situations are not in your favour. Optimism comes into play. Move on and look forward what’s next rather than regretting

Despite a setback, finding aspects of the situation or your journey to be thankful for can shift your focus from what went wrong to what’s going right. It could be the skills you've honed while working on a project, the connections you've made, or even the feedback from the rejection itself providing you a roadmap for improvement. Optimism is about holding onto a positive outlook for the future despite current hurdles. It’s the belief that despite the rejection, better opportunities are on the horizon. Over time, this blend of gratitude and optimism can build a resilient mindset that not only helps in dealing with rejection but also fuels your motivation to keep moving forward.

Our perception of rejection can act as motivation or demotivating. When we look at the positive aspects of rejection such as lessons that we learn from it, it helps us to be a better version of ourselves. However, if we look at it as a negative event entirely, it will weigh us down and make us unable to move ahead as fast as we would have wanted.

Notice ‘how’ you’re rejected. Observe fully - without attaching thought or emotion, the words and body language used. Be aware of what you sense from the person /people; your own internal response and to what extent you agree or can relate to their sense of you. The win / lose outcome is of least importance.

Exponential change is the new normal. We have vast, interconnected, rapidly transforming, systemic changes arising. In this kind of environment, we have to rid ourselves of the sticky inner content that processes things like rejection through our emotions, or worse yet, unresolved wounds. At this time when change is the only constant, practices such as non-attachment are critical. Think of the Buddhist monks creating vast mandalas of sand and then wiping them away. Nimble movement, emptiness (meaning of that sticky inner content), and letting go rapidly are no longer esoteric practices for the spiritual adepts. They are the essential practices that will allow us to collaborate with the chaos of the times.

The trick to staying motivated in the face of rejection is in changing our perspectives and attitudes towards rejection. We can learn to look at rejection as an outcome of a mismatch between the requirements and expectations of two parties. This should motivate us to develop skills in active listening that will open up a sea of opportunities to better understand the needs of others. Being, therefore, in complete resonance with the needs of the other, we can communicate clearly on the skills and experience we possess to fulfil their requirements. This will minimize the chances of rejection and keep us motivated towards success and self-development.