Being rejected is painful. It’s perhaps one of the worst things to ever happen to your emotions and takes a toll on you after a while if you don’t know how to deal with it. It’s the reason many people fear rejection and stay where they are. They often resort to other means of comfort like staying indoors and watching TV shows and movies versus going out and living life for real. We create buffers all around us to avoid the pain of failure and rejection, and don’t seem to realise that we’re doing it. Here are 15 ways to help you overcome it once and for all and to finally live the life you’ve always imagined.
1) Let go of thinking it’s all over when rejection happens.
There has never been a time where the world collapsed on top of me whenever I experienced failure. It may have felt like it at the time but the reality is, it is mostly in your head anyway and usually built up to be a lot bigger than it actually is.
2) Re-evaluate what a rejection really means.
Are you going to view rejection as a character assassination or as a learning experience? Every successful person I have ever known started off being terrible at their craft, yet over a period of time slowly hacked away at their craft and got better and better at it.
3) Let go of the need to always be right.
There really is no such thing as right and wrong, only opinions. An opinion only becomes a fact when it’s told by someone perceived to be an authority. But, even then, become suspicious of it. You are free to think and believe whatever you choose to believe. If you truly believe that you’re a failure, then there’s nothing to stop you from believing it besides you.
4) Use rejection as an opportunity to grow.
As was said in #2, no one ever achieved anything in life without making mistakes along the way. Every rejection is an opportunity to re-evaluate your actions and a chance to adjust your sail in a different direction. You will learn things which you could not have known any other way.
5) Realize that you are not special.
After all’s said and done, no one is really going to care about your day or whether you succeeded or failed. This is the first step to to understanding that what everyone else thinks of you really isn’t something to worry much about.
6) Take pride in yourself first.
When you truly realize that your thoughts and beliefs are what count, you begin to see that at the end of the day, only you matter when it comes to personal responsibility. Do what you can in your life, and whether you are praised or criticized, take pride in having done your best.
7) Keep an open mind.
Nothing is set in stone on this world. What you might think at this present moment may well change in the near future. Don’t count the thoughts and feelings of the billions of other people currently alive. Learn to leave things open to interpretation. Nothing is what it seems.
8) Stop taking yourself too seriously.
If you’re a high achiever, you will naturally want the best from yourself. But try to understand that you can’t be perfect all the time. You’re not infallible, nor are you made of iron. The minute you get over your perceived greatness is when you’ll begin to see that you are just another human being trying to get by like everyone else.
9) Understand that rejection is a part of life.
When you view the world objectively, you begin to understand that rejection happens all the time. However, you can choose to overlook the criticisms that are of no value to you. Therefore, rejection only ever becomes a rejection when you place importance on it. Your reaction is something you have direct control over.
10) Focus on failure, not success.
If you attempt anything in life not expecting to succeed, something interesting begins to happen. Not only do you put less pressure on yourself, but your journey towards proficiency becomes much more fun in the process. Expectation is the prime reason for people quitting before reaching their goals. Be hopeful and confident, but acknowledge that you might not succeed perfectly every time.
11) Have the courage to challenge your fears consistently.
No one ever grew in life without pushing limits. The only limit we have is the limit we set for ourselves and our imaginations. Learn to challenge your beliefs and fears on a daily basis in order to see and understand what your true limits are. Thoughts are just thoughts, and you have control over them.
12) See each problem as a challenge and not an obstacle.
Every obstacle is something that was put there to show you what your current boundaries are. The person who is willing to challenge those boundaries is usually the person who achieves more.
13) View life as a video game.
Whenever you reach a new level in your life, there is always higher level that is perceived to be harder and more challenging to overcome. Over time, with consistent effort, each level will seem easy to overcome. Keep at it until it gets easier.
14) Learn to embrace your flaws.
As with #5, You have weaknesses like everyone else and won’t know how to overcome them until you learn to recognize and accept them. The first step to growth is acceptance of your flaws. The second is using your weaknesses to identify your strengths building those over a period of time.
15) Stop caring what other people think.
At the end of the day, no one really cares about you and whether or not you exist in the world. Everyone has his or her own individual problems in life and are simply doing exactly what you’re doing right now when it comes to worries, anxieties and frustrations. The minute you take people off the pedestal is when you begin to live your life free from external judgement. It is your life to live after all, and it is now up to you to go out and claim it.
