What Rejection Really Means

For most, rejection is a horribly uncomfortable thing. Even the thought of it makes us uneasy. This permeates our everyday life in so many ways and regularly affects how we make decisions. The goal is to avoid rejection and we work back from there.

Yet, if you’re not getting rejected it probably means you’re not aiming high enough. When it comes to careers, we’ve all been through interviews where we didn’t land the job or didn’t even receive a call back. This is more constructive than you might imagine.

When you’re rejected, there’s a suggestion that the other party doesn’t see a fit. It may not be obvious to you, but perhaps they’re right. If it’s not a fit for both, chances are it won’t be a great long term fit even if you are successful in landing it. Therefore everyone is better off.

How many of the applications that you’ve submitted over the years can you honestly point back to and say “I wish I’d got that one” or do you feel like it probably worked out for the best in the end?

What’s more, rejection is great experience for your career. Each and every profession has a certain amount of rejection “baked in” – whether you’re a not-profit applying for funding, a business development executive pitching to clients, or an entrepreneur looking to raise money. The reality is rejection is a part of everyday life. Get used to it.

Rejection is also an essential step to building something valuable. You’re learning, you’re growing, and pushing yourself to improve and do more. Winston Churchill once famously said: “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm”. Those who aren’t being rejected simply aren’t trying hard enough.

We need to accept rejection for what it is – an essential step towards meeting our goals and a sure sign that we’re aiming high enough.