Embrace Rejection, and try smarter!

"Shall I call him now? He might be working, and I might be bothering him! I don't want him to have a wrong impression of me. How about writing an email? Wait! That's a little passive..." I look at my watch and realise that I've been trying to call Harry, a company executive, for the last 15 minutes. Being upset with my indecisiveness, I decide not to take any action.

We frequently deal with such scenarios and decide not to proceed with that action to avoid rejection. Let me tell you what the reality is. The real story is that sometimes success is tracked down to making those small yet critical decisions. In reality, one interaction takes you closer to where you want to be. By delaying that, you will remain where you are.

Being rejected is true fear. Some individuals are so scared of being rejected that it prevents them from taking simple actions. Yes! The reality is that some of us, indeed, take action and get rejected even though our plans are well thought through. Such scenarios sometimes repeat. The successful individuals plan their moves carefully, spend so much time checking different scenarios and still get ready to be rejected.

What are you going to lose if you are rejected? Yes! You might be embarrassed, disappoint yourself, and prove that you are useless (heard this many times.) In reality, you are now free to check other options, you are now more experienced in taking those actions, and you are now ready to prepare a better plan. If you fail nine times and are smart, your 10th attempt is way more mature than the first time.

Enjoy Trying!

"These guys are a bunch of racists. I'm sick of rejection after rejection. I thought first that they might not like my name. I changed my original name to Sam, and it took me to some interviews. I guess they don't like my accent and appearance." Sam complains. I'm thinking, "Of course, no one will like you with this defensive and pessimistic attitude even if you change your name to Richard, the Lionheart", but I bite my tongue. Somya approaches us. "Guys! I've just applied for three new jobs." "How many times do you want to apply, girl?" I ask Somya jokingly. She smiles. "Come on, man! I'm having fun. I'm just testing what else I can do, and I'm getting better at applying for these jobs now. I enjoy revising my CV to match each application." Looking at Somya, I was unsure if she was wasting her time. Sam is more experienced than Somya, but Somya is a far more positive, decisive and personable character.

I had a coffee with Sam two weeks later when Somya approached us, laughing aloud. "What drugs are you on, Somya?" I asked. She wiped her tears of joy. "I have been offered two jobs simultaneously. I'm thinking of accepting one of them. It's the Procurement specialist at XYZ." "Who interviewed you?" asked Sam. Somya realising that there might be an issue, changed her tone "someone called Jim, Joe, Jason..." not sure". "Jared?" said Sam. "Maybe?" Somya responded calmly, looking a bit nervous. "How can they offer that position to this junior and not me?" said Sam, leaving us.

I look at Somya and nod to show her my respect.

A Japanese proverb says

Fall seven times and stand up eight