The Upside of Rejection
I know this guy who turned his fear of rejection into a lifechanging superpower.
(When I say "know him," I mean I discovered him on youtube.)
When Jia Jiang was 14, he dreamt of becoming the first entrepreneur in his family, and of buying Microsoft one day.
There was just one teeny problem: he was petrified of rejection.
When the first investor he approached turned him down, Jia thought about quitting. All the time.
(I know all about quitting. I made it an Olympic sport in my 20s and 30s.)
He needed to do something drastic – or he'd NEVER realize his dream.
So he set out on a 100-day rejection therapy challenge. Every day, Jia get rejected on purpose, and post the experience on his vlog.
He came up with requests that no sane person would say yes to...
😬 Asking a stranger if he could borrow $100.
😅 Asking for a "burger refill" at a Five Guys restaurant.
😨 Offering to be a live mannequin in an Abercrombie store.
Can you guess what happened next?
The more times Jia risked rejection, the less scary it got.
And, the more nos he racked up, the more incredible yeses he got too.
He knocked on a stranger's door asking to plant a flower in the man's backyard, and got referred to the man's neighbor across the street, who "loves flowers." Hello, Referral.
When he asked a local Krispy Kreme to make donuts shaped like Olympic rings, he got free donuts – and 5 million views of his video overnight. Hello, Media Exposure.
Jia Jiang's rejection therapy catapulted him to building a company, authoring a book, and delivering a TED Talk.
What would happen if you and I practiced a little rejection therapy?
Here are 2 ideas I'm putting into action:
Replacing my goal of "land 10 podcast interviews," with " get rejected from 50 podcasts" (which automagically gets me to 10)
Instead of "close 2 VIP clients each month", I’m reframed the goal to "schedule 6 sales calls a month" (based on a 30% close rate)
Finally, feel free to borrow my mantra: there's no such thing as rejection, only alignment.
If someone says no, it just means it's not the right time or the right fit.
For every person who says no, there's another person who's eager to give you their full-body YES.
If you're feeling bold, email me your rejection therapy goal. I'll send you back an "rooting you on" emoji.
