Few things can feel as crushing as being rejected. Whether it’s because of a friend who cancelled plans last moment, your partner who is saying that the relationship is not working or the recruiter who thinks that you are not the right fit for the company you really wanted to work for: not feeling wanted is awful. Sometimes it breaks our hearts but often it’s all about the frustration regarding the rejection. Dealing with rejection is hard but knowing how to handle rejection in the best way possible is an important skill that will help you throughout life. Because rejection is part of life. When it comes to rejection, know that it is all about your mindset and perspective.
Emotions
When you are rejected, don’t think “let’s quickly accept this and move on as fast as possible”. Feel all the emotions that are going through you. You may feel hurt, disappointed and/ or angry. Give yourself some time to get over this. Being angry, sad or hurt is not fun, but it is definitely part of the process.
Risks
Your comfort zone is your safe place. It’s your habits and your routines. It feels safe over there and everything is familiar but at the same time it can be a bit boring. You are out of your comfort zone when you are doing things that you find scary: you want to do them but a voice in your head says that you might fail. And you do not want that of course. However, everytime that voice comes back in your head when you want to try something new, think differently. There is indeed a possibility that you might fail, but at least you have tried. Try to remember that being rejected is a sign of not weakness. See it as a strength. You won’t know the answer if you don’t try.
Self love
You didn’t get your dream job? How unfortunate but please don’t take it out on yourself when you get rejected. You’ve tried your best and that what matters.
When one door closes…
Whether it’s that date you haven’t heard back from or the company who isn’t interested in you after all: know that is not your fault. And also not the other’s. Someone had certain expectations and you are meeting those expectations. Remember that those expectations don’t say anything about you as a person. The only thing that happened – in a case of rejection – is that there is basically no match. It can feel like the end of the world but know that another door opens when one closes. So be patient and be optimistic because you never know when it will happen.
