What I Learnt from My 30 Days of Rejection
Eliminate the fear of not trying again
Hi Superstar,
Welcome to another month of me with cliché titles. Rejection is not cliché, it is humane. I learnt this in November 2021, the month I like to call, “the month of back-to-back hit” because metaphorically speaking, every week, there was a gunshot wound to the chest. Jiang, the CEO of Wuju Learning, a company that trains organizations and employees to turn rejections into opportunities shared his experience of rejection in this Ted talk, he talked about how rejection is not something to be feared rather it is to be embraced in order to help you see opportunities.
Rejection shows you a reflection of life. It makes you see situations from another perspective and enables you to change yourself. This is what Robert Greene had emphasized in the 25th Law of Power as the power to recreate yourself. Through a series of rejections, you become stronger and more calculating. You become self-conscious and more determined to build the strongest version of yourself.
Frankly, rejection is inevitable. You can’t escape from it and if you are so “magically” lucky to escape it in your career, you surely find it waiting in your other spheres of life, for example - Your relationships.
More so, what if I told you that rejection is a blessing?
This might sound obnoxious but have we ever thought about the outcome of rejection and how our lives were after the impact? I have. In the first week of November 2021, I had gotten to the final stage of an interview for a remote job in the US, and a few hours before the offer call, I got a rejection mail with the note- “ It just occurred to us that you are from Nigeria and sadly, we are not hiring from your country at the moment”. At first, I was practically numb for a moment, and the moment after I burst into ugly tears. I felt like a part of me was robbed- my invested time and effort. However, the outcome of my rejection took three months to manifest. In January 2022, I started advocating for inclusivity in remote work on LinkedIn. I became known for my posts and it didn’t take long for founders and recruiters of remote companies to connect with me and send me opportunities.
I went from getting emails of rejections to getting emails of opportunities and connections on my thought of remote work for a global workforce. Today, I owe it to November 2021, my 30 days of rejection.
“If we are all going to chop breakfast, the least we can do for ourselves is to make our next meal more grandeur”.
ENTRY LEVEL ROLES
0-2 years experience;
MID - LEVEL ROLES
3-5 years experience;
SENIOR LEVEL ROLES
5-10 years experience;
INTERNSHIP ROLES
SNEAK PEAK FROM THE INSTAGRAM PAGE
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MUSINGS
The old has passed away, the new has come.
Cheers to a new month and another chance for us to get it right. So don’t waste this new month on regrets. Use these 3 Rs: Restrategize, Rest, and Re-invent.
Look back at your plans and areas you need to work on
Take as many breaks as you can. Read novels, have fun, watch movies, listen on repeat to your favorite songs, romanticize your walks and take enough sleep.
Lastly, don’t forget to keep building yourself. Invest in you and what makes you happy.
With Love,
Mary-Esther
period!