Let's chat about #rejection.
Let's chat about #rejection.
In our "virtual" online world, we seem to share more of our wins and successes...but the reality is it's not always sunshine and rainbows. We have our ups, downs, curveballs, and face many rejections to receive a few wins.
Today, I want to reflect back and share about being rejected. I started my first company in my 20s. I knew that I would have to put my time and build my reputation, but what was alarming were the immediate rejections I received because I am a millennial who talked about Social Media.
I remember this one specific study group that invited me to speak for them. I was fairly new to the dental speaking industry and the study club had asked me to provide a resource for their members. It just so happened that I was interviewed by HuffPost about marketing, and I decided to give that Q&A interview which had relevant strategies for dental practices. On the day of the event, the host handed out the information as members signed in. While making my rounds, I heard and saw a few members making fun of me, my subject matter, and crumbling my article without even reading it. They also happened to be at the front table...where I would have to sit and present from.
I remember feeling tiny, unimportant, that I did not belong, that my information was not valuable...I felt rejected. But then something came to me. I was reading the book, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett and I remembered a quote from it "Every morning, until you dead in the ground, you gone have to make this decision. You gone have to ask yourself, "Am I gone believe what them fools say about me today?”.
And I decided that I am not going to let some fools ruin my day and tell me who I am and what I am capable of.
Turned out that one of those "fools" became my marketing client that night and continues to send me referrals.T
he moral of the story is that you are your best cheerleader and your worst enemy. Do not give someone else the power to define you.
Here's to all who are doing all they can every day for a better life. Cheers to you!
