I’ve been self employed for over six years now and have seen the ups and downs that come along with it. One thing you learn early on is how to handle rejection because it is inevitable.
At first I took it personally. Then, down the road a ways, I started thinking it was more tactical in nature and I wondered what I did wrong. Then a few years ago I embraced it for the first time and said, “what should I learn from this?”
While nobody likes rejection there are valuable lessons within it. Here are seven benefits of rejection that I have personally seen (and continue to) in my life:
1. It teaches me patience.
2. It teaches me persistence.
3. It teaches me hold my business loosely enough to not get so wrapped up in it that I think it’s the most important thing in my life.
4. It shocks me back into reality when I get lazy or don’t treat a prospect with as much respect as I should have.
5. It reminds me that sometimes I can do all the right things and still not get the job and there’s nothing I can do about it.
6. It reminds me that when I make a mistake I may very well have to suffer the consequences and be sure to not make that mistake again.
7. It teaches me not to burn bridges. My response to the rejection shows a client (or prospect) how I respond when things don’t go my way.
Success isn’t a guarantee but rejection is. There will, at some point, be rejection again for you and me. The nature and magnitude will vary but it’s coming so get ready for it. Prepare yourself to handle it honorably. The funny thing about rejection is that we want to reject it. I believe the best way through it is actually to accept it, seek to understand why it happened and squeeze all the meaning and learning you can from it.
