I have been on a mission these last few months to get my message out to people in communities, organizations, and companies. On this mission I have been approaching various organizations and companies in my efforts to bring my workshops and courses to them. One by one I was getting ‘rejected.’ Either the company I approached was not set up for providing these types of training programs to their managers and staff, or an organization was already providing something similar to what I was offering, or another organization was booked with providing courses and workshops for the coming months and was not interested in adding anymore workshops to their calendar.
After reaching out and getting rejected a few times in a row, I felt dejected. It was hard to hear ‘no’ over and over again. I’m sure you have experienced this in your life. We all do at some point, right? Whether it’s a job we are going for, a program we would like to get accepted into, a client we would like to enroll, and even (or especially) someone we would like to date or marry, many of us have experienced what it feels like to be rejected. It can be hurtful. In fact, it can be downright debilitating if we allow those experiences to take over and define us. After getting rejected here and there (and especially if it happens a few times in a row), I certainly contemplate giving up.
But then I wake myself up and I realize that what I am doing here is so much bigger than I am. And I am reminded by my wonderful mentors, colleagues and friends that nothing comes easily. I refocus and recharge myself by reminding myself about my mission and why I am doing this work. I understand that if I make this work about me (my ego), then those rejections feel incredibly painful, but when I make this work about others, which it is, then I am able to get myself back up again and back on track. I think of new ways to reach others and to get my message out. Instead of feeling limited by the ‘no’s’, I ask myself questions that help me to think of other solutions that are in my control that will help me to accomplish my goals. And there are many.
How about you?
Do you have your own personal and professional goals that you want to reach? In your pursuit of your goal(s) do you sometimes get rejected or hear the word ‘no’?
Don’t give up.
As I was reminded by one of my mentors just last week, everything in life requires work and can feel hard. I will add that anything and everything in my life that is really great has required work and effort on my part. From cultivating an amazing and special group of friends, to acquiring an amazing education, to creating and building an incredible family, and to running and building a meaningful and successful business, I have learned that everything that we want to make really great in our lives, requires focus, commitment and effort.
So when last week after I finished giving an inspiring and productive talk to a group of professional women, and walked down the corridor to another organization that I was pitching to, I stayed focused on my mission. This was an organization that had told me ‘no’ not once, but twice. It stung at the time to hear those ‘no’s’, but I embraced the high that I was coming off of with the talk I just gave and walked into the organization to meet the program coordinator. (Yes I showed up without a meeting, and yes I just walked in with confidence.) She knew who I was, and I smiled. She knew what I wanted because I had approached her a few times. This time, however, her answer was not ‘no.’This time she said, ‘You’ve got good timing, Jenny. The person we booked with for a full set of workshops for the coming months just cancelled on us. Let me know what you want to do, and send it to me in writing. We’ll make it happen.”
With that I (re)learned these important lessons:
- Don’t give up, and
- You might not really know why you got rejected in the first place, so don’t get all hard on yourself. In my case, with at least one of the organizations, my timing was simply off. I came in again and this time it was the right time.
No matter what you are going for, be it a new job, a new program, a new project, or a new relationship, stay focused on your mission and don’t give up.
Sometimes what does get in the way of you fulfilling your goals is not only that you might be hearing ‘no’s’ too often, but that you are still unclear about what it is that you really want and are still unclear about your direction. If you are feeling like this is what is keeping you stuck, and you feel like you are wandering around aimlessly trying to figure it out, let me help you.
I am giving a Free Webinar this week on Wednesday, November 15th, at 1:30pm EST/8:30p.m. Israel time. The topic I will be speaking on is “Your First 3 Steps to Getting Clear on Your Career Direction.” In this webinar I will be sharing the formula I created and guide you through the steps to take to help you get clear and focused on your career (and life) direction.
If you’d like to attend this Free webinar, click here to register. I look forward to seeing you in the meeting room this Wednesday! And if you choose not to attend, I look forward to seeing you here next week!
In support and admiration,
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