Rejection: The Road To (Potential) Success
The email notification pops up on my phone. It’s the response from the job interview last week. I skim read through the email. It’s a clear NO. This is definitely not my first, and I am sure it won’t be my last.
A couple of years ago, each rejection would have left me with a feeling of inadequacy or defeat. Whereas, now I take each rejection with a more nuanced view, after the initial hurt. I look at it as both a learning opportunity and part of the process of working out what I want to do with my life.
The learning opportunity part of rejection is probably the most valuable. There might be a skill (or experience) that you are lacking, which you have to find a solution for. This could involve going out to further your education, by doing a Master’s, or by finding an internship in that field. Yet at the same time, it allows you to really think is this a field that I want to spend the rest of my working life involved in.
Likewise, this broadens your thinking, if you lose your job or get rejected when pursuing a certain path, you are forced to re-think what can I do with my time and reduce my chance of this occurring again. For example, in my case, whilst I work the part-time job, I can focus on learning German as it is something that I need to pursue as I live in a German-speaking country. On the other hand, why not start the Master’s degree in political studies a year earlier than planned. In the long-run, it may lead to better things.
It is this understanding that setbacks occur which generates the resilient and flexible mentality that will lead to success. In a full-time work environment, you obviously can build certain experience and skills, but setbacks can take you on a whole new exciting path.
For example, a job loss turns into an opportunity to write a novel, or make that plan to create a social enterprise a reality. Likewise, a certain career path may have been fine for the last few years, but perhaps you have a dream of becoming a lawyer. Rejection can be that push which gets you to return to school, in order to reach your potential. Even if it doesn’t work out, it is far better to arrive on your deathbed with one less regret of what could have been. Learning to appreciate rejection and failure in life builds resilience, and weakens the power of fear in stopping us.
I recognise though as a twenty-four it is easier to face certain rejection and to pursue a new path, than let’s say closer to forty. Yet, there are many cases of people around that age meeting success on new paths, from J K Rowling to Sam Walton (The founder of Walmart). So, when you next face a rejection, of course as an emotional human being, it will hurt. Nevertheless, once the pain subsides, embrace the experience and learn from it. Each rejection is just a lesson on the road to success.
