Dealing with Rejection – And Coming Out on Top by @BMakes3

by Lee McCaffrey | Featured Contributor

Not long ago I made the decision to expand my career and dive into something new. And dive I did. I grabbed every opportunity that crossed my path and went for it.

Going from strength to strength, I was reserved at first but pretty soon I was riding high on a wave of confidence.

And then it came.

The thanks, but no thanks email. It doesn’t fit with what we’re doing. In fact … it’s just plain boring.

I tried hard not to be crushed, but deep down I was. I was boring?! It didn’t take long for me to begin questioning my whole existence in this brand new world and wondering if perhaps, I could quietly close the door and return to my previous life.

But there was one problem with that. The only thing worse than dealing with rejection, was the thought of giving up something that I had well and truly fallen in love with doing.

After few days of dragging myself around, I was summoned to lunch by a friend determined to set me back on my path. Over bad coffee, she walked me through the steps for dealing with rejection and pretty soon had me back on top …

This is what she said;

It’s OK to be Upset

Rejection is upsetting so be upset!

Allow yourself time to feel and process your emotions. But you can’t hold onto it. Take some time to breathe and release negative energy so that you can be ready to start moving forward.

 Rejection is Perception

 “You can’t please everyone so you gotta please yourself” – Ricky Nelson

 Remember, rejection is often one person’s opinion of that one piece of work and nothing more; it may simply not be their cup of tea.

And no matter how hard you try, you won’t fit everywhere.

Be clear about your message or your product and focus on that. By doing so, you’ll find your niche or your group and you’ll be exactly where you should be.

 Look for the Lessons and Learn

Whilst rejection hurts and can be hard to take, you need to also accept that it can also be good for you. Ask yourself ‘What have I learned from this experience?’

What could you change or do differently next time around? Take on board constructive criticism and throw out the rest. Above all else, you need to make sure that you grow and learn from the experience.

Don’t let it control you

Now that you’ve taken some time to process your emotions and learnt what you needed to learn, move on. Let it go. Focus your energy and efforts on new work.

Look for new ideas or try something that you’ve never done before.

Rejection hurts. But you can get through it. As long as you get up, work through the steps and keep moving forward, you can come out the other end stronger than ever.

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Lee McCaffrey is a Mother, Entrepreneur and Writer. Together with her husband she has co-founded and co-directs several companies as well as owning, running and being an adviser and board member to several other small-medium businesses. Her vast experience extends from small business management to software development to marketing and graphic design.

Lee is an established writer and ghost writer and is a regular contributor to several online publications. In addition she documents her experiences as a Mother and Woman in business on her blog Business Makes Three.

A passionate creative, Lee lives on beautiful Lake Macquarie in Australia with her husband and two children.

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Lee McCaffrey