I love this quote from Ed Mylett. I discovered Ed when I went to the Rise business conference and he is a great motivation speaker. He has so many great tips on how to live your best life. I urge you to follow him on Instagram. He is so inspiring. When it comes to persistence...he is your guy. I'm your girl but he's your guy.
Talking about rejection today and the number one thing you have to remember about rejection is you will never truly know why you are being rejected so you can't let it stop you. You know what they say about opinions and what they are like, right? If not, ask someone else! But that is what is happening when you are being rejected. You are not lining up to someone's expectations based on their own notions. Have you ever lost out on a job and you have no idea why. You had the credentials, the experience and you know you were perfect for the job yet somehow, you were passed over. Do you know that its possible you looked like the interviewers ex-spouse and they won't hire you for that reason? Sound ridiculous? I know it does, but I also assure you it happens. But wait, you say...that's totally not fair. You are right again. However, there is nothing you can do about it. So when you get rejected for something that you put your heart and soul in, don't take it personally. It may have nothing at all to do with you and everything to do with them. All you can do is soldier on and try again. There will be someone who will recognize and value everything you have to offer. You wouldn't want to work for someone who can be so easily swayed into decisions like looks anyway.
This is one of my favorite stories so I apologize if you've already heard it. But a few years back I interviewed for a writing position at a local, weekly newspaper. I really hit it off with the editor during the interview. We got along great and the interview lasted about an hour and a half. I was sent off to write a couple stories, send them in and check back. Well, when I checked back I got crickets. Nothing. After a few days I heard from someone else in the office that my writing wasn't exactly what they had in mind. OKAYYYY. Whatever! It hurt though. There is no doubt about that. But I had to keep moving forward. I'm actually a professional when it comes to rejection. Being in the field of radio set me up for a lot of rejection throughout my career. And I mean a lot. I had gotten a job as a freelance radio anchor for the Wall Street Journal radio network. This was a position that had you broadcasting to two hundred stations at a time. You had to be good to work there. And I made it. I had some issues here and there but they always called me. I was so proud to work there. Then all of a sudden, they stopped calling. I got in touch with the program director and she gave me a bunch of reasons why I wasn't needed at that time. After a few years I had lost my job and so I gave it another go with the Wall Street Journal. Suddenly, I was welcomed back with open arms. So what happened? I was told that one of the big bosses didn't like the sound of my voice so my program director was told not to have me in anymore. Huh, sucks...right? Like I said, you can never know for sure what the real reason is for a rejection.
Fast few years after the incident at the weekly newspaper and I had the itch to try my hand at writing again. The first thing I had tackled was an article describing the pure joy I felt when the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl. I was ecstatic. I was overjoyed. I was wondering if I was a little off for getting so much happiness from this. So I wrote about it. And I sent it in to the same exact paper that rejected me. But to the opinion section which I know has different standards. But it turns out that the owner of the paper handles that section and she loved my article and printed it. Since then, I have written many articles and had them printed in this paper. It's all subjective people...for real! But why do you think I sent the article to the same paper that had already rejected me? It's because I had nothing to lose. In fact, I expected to be rejected. I knew I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. And oh, how I've gained. I started writing for them on a regular basis which lead to another position at another paper where I interviewed local bands and got more of my work in print. Which I'm sure helped with my confidence to start this blog which turned into a podcast which is now turning into a full fledged business.
Rejection can hurt. There is no doubt. But when you put it in perspective, it may have nothing to do with you at all. Keep in mind that 12 publishers said no to J.K Rowling when she presented Harry Potter to them. How much do you think they are kicking themselves now? And she is laughing all the way to the bank. What if she would have given up after the 6th no. Or the 10 no. We wouldn't have the wonder of so much wizardry. And most importantly, she would have never realized her dream. And look what her dream has done for so many people. Never give up. Keep going. Dreams are put in your heart for a reason. If you can think it, you can do it. So get to it. And don't let the word no stop you.
Oh, I'll be back live tomorrow. Now go on out there and doing something badass today. You know I'm cheering you on.