Rejection Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Good Enough
How you choose to respond to rejection could determine the course of your future…
Rejection sucks, everybody goes through it. It’s only natural to feel dejected, defeated, angry and depressed. That job offer you didn’t land, that invitation to a friend’s birthday party you didn’t get or that guy at work you flirted with who doesn’t feel the same way? It’s brutal, but we’ve ALL been there.
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”
You can use the pain of rejection to grow stronger and become better. Don’t suppress the pain, acknowledge it. This is the key to dealing with your discomfort in a healthy manner. Trying to minimize the pain by telling yourself it was “no big deal” only prolongs it. Use it as a time to focus on a new creative project or develop some new transferable skills that will make you more attractive to an employer or help you start your own business. Show yourself some compassion and don’t beat yourself up over it.
“Rejection doesn’t have to mean that you aren’t good enough; it often just means the other person failed to notice what you have to offer.”
Ash Sweeney
The Joys of Job Hunting
As a job seeker, I face a constant uphill battle in trying to find a permanent job. I’ve spent months applying and sending out applications until I’m blue in the face. The fact that I don’t hear back from most of these companies makes me feel like I’m wasting my time. I’ve received dozens of those condescending “you’re wonderful but not a right fit for us right now” rejection emails. It can take a whole month to land just ONE job interview. So much time and effort is spent on interview preparation including preparing the perfect answers to those tough competency questions!
The worst thing about being rejected from a job interview is receiving meaningless feedback from a hiring manager. You’ve prepared well & let your personality shine through. You’ve said all the right things to convince them that you’re the best person for the job but it STILL doesn’t give you the desired outcome of a landing the job offer. The challenge lies in trying to maintain a positive attitude while remaining focused and upbeat in the face of defeat!
“Rejection can disappoint you, depress you & may even stop you in your tracks…learn not to take rejection so personally…if you're honest with yourself & believe in your work, others will too.”
Bev Jozwiak
What Rejection Has Taught Me
1. Focus on the positive
Believe in yourself — that is the key. Rejection really does get you down & you start to doubt whether you are competent enough. However, these negative emotions will pass, it is only a transient state. The solution is to focus outside of yourself & go out and do something physical that you enjoy. I always find that walking in nature and doing yoga helps keep me focused on the positive in life. My advice is to live in the moment and engage in outdoor activities that give you a rush of ‘feel good’ endorphins!
2. Embrace your creative side
I used the valuable time in between jobs as the perfect opportunity to pursue my creative passions. I’ve always had a keen interest in writing fashion articles so last year I learned how to create my own fashion blog website with Wordpress which gave me a platform to self-publish my writing. I also received a qualification in Social Media Marketing which I’m definitely putting to good use!
Rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the creative process and in the pursuit of success. Each time you are rejected, see it as an opportunity to be re-directed to something better!
Thank you for reading!
