Why You Should Set a Rejections Goal

Hey there! 👋

A while ago, I was having a conversation with a friend who was always not pursuing what he wanted to do. He would have these great ideas, but with no execution. When I prompted him with questions, he would always say it’s just a silly idea of his. After having a heart to heart talk with him, I found out that he actually feared rejection—all because of this fear of sounding silly to someone else, he always never took action on what he could do and might achieve.

There is Nothing Wrong with Getting Rejected

It a natural human experience that I believe is something we all face at some point in our lives. We all crave that social acceptance and belonging. Rejection hurts, but we have to understand that part of how this fear works, is also how we think about it, that influences the way we behave when the fear kicks in. When we add in other things like self-doubt into the mix, eventually it becomes a habit where we make excuses—just because we fear that feeling of getting rejected.

I Want to Get Rejected!

Getting rejected can be really scary. However, there’s a good workaround this fear of getting rejected. Instead of forming negative thoughts about being rejected, we can change the narrative of how we perceive rejection. Setting a rejections goal will help you change how you perceive rejection. For example, when you set a rejection goal of 50 rejections this week, you now have to seek out things to get rejected so you can hit that target number you’ve set for yourself. By changing the idea around rejection, instead of fearing that rejection, now you’re counting towards that quota for rejection. And if it doesn’t work out, guess what? It just means you’re not getting rejected! Wow mind-blowing?

More Opportunities

The idea around seeking rejections means that you put yourself out there more. Because when you set a goal of 50 rejections per week, you’re now possibly starting to ask even the questions that you may not have considered asking before. For some, it could be “I want to work for that person. Let me ask. If I get rejected, it’ll get added to my rejection goals.” And that’s how you change your own perception about rejection goals. To you, it’s now a win—because as long as you ask, if you get rejected, it’s still counts towards your goals, and if it doesn’t, it means you got what you ask for!

Reflect: When was the last time you actively seek out to get rejected? If you try this and start with a low number. Actively record it in your diary. This will help you start seeing the amount of tremendous effort you have put in to asking what you are seeking for. It could really be anything from wanting to take charge of a project, to wanting to get that promotion—if you don’t ask, it’s a 100% failure. Asking brings that chance of success up to 50%. And as you get more comfortable with rejection, you’d be more inclined to ask than not—getting your chances up 50% all the time.

Mentor’s Notes

When I first tried shifting my mindset around this, I was blown away by how well it worked. Everything that I wanted to ask for—what’s the worst that could happen? It’s just a number now that I add towards my rejection goals. And I think this is one of the better ways to help us move forward and reframe that fear into something that’s less emotional, less daunting, and more like that challenge and number that you could hit. Try it for the week, and let me know how it works out for you.

Take care!

P.S. Yes, as always, please share it with your friends if you think it’s useful. Share it on your LinkedIn, your Facebook, anywhere!