Sorry, that’s incorrect.

You lose.

You’re disqualified.

You’ve been rejected.

We’re not interested.

You’re fired.

You didn’t make it.

No, that won’t work for us.

Pass.

No thank you.

You’re not what we’re looking for.

You didn’t get the part.

We chose somebody else.

These are just a few of the phrases I could think of that represent failures and rejections, but I’m sure there many more. And I can honestly tell you that if you don’t experience any of these then you’re probably not trying anything.

Do these failures and rejections sting when you hear them? Absolutely!

You’d have to be some kind of emotionless machine for them not to hurt at least a little. Nobody likes to hear or feel as though they’re not good enough.

The question is, how will you respond when you hear them?

Will you take some time to heal your wounds and then rise up to the next challenge? Or will you decide not to pursue anything ever again. Will you in essence, reject yourself?

Failure and rejection can be difficult to deal with, but you can also train yourself to change your perspective and view them as learning opportunities. This is not easy, but absolutely achievable.

A perfect example is athletes and sports teams. Could you imagine if an athlete or team lost an event or game and decided that they’d never play again? Sounds a little ridiculous when you hear it, but all life is, is a series of events.

Of course some events in life are more important than others, but those too can be viewed as learning opportunities, almost like a training ground for you to build resilience against failure and rejection.

So the next time you experience failure or rejection, view it not as a personal downfall, but an opportunity to for self-reflection. First and foremost, commend yourself for at least having the courage to try, and then go out and find your next challenge.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.