How to get over fear of rejection
The answer: find ways to get rejected.
Think about it:
You asked your parents for ice cream or a toy you wanted when you were a little kid. Most of the time, your parents said no. Isn’t that rejection? What happened after that?
You would probably cry or throw a fit if you were a toddler. Your reactions become less negative as you get older because you learn to deal with it and move on.
It’s the same right now!
Of course, it’s a different kind of rejection. The people rejecting you aren’t parents but clients, customers, investors, etc. In that sense, it is scarier because you don’t know these people and they aren’t necessarily looking out for you like your parents.
If you ever get caught in this kind of thinking, keep playing this thought out to the end. What really happens if they reject you?
They say no.
You lose a client/customer/whatever.
They are gone.
Once they reject you, they’re gone! All you have to worry about is how you can improve. No one will reject you and stay just to rub it in. People have things to do! If they move on quickly after rejecting you, then you must move on as fast.
The practice
Here’s a simple (not easy) exercise you can try.
The next time you go to a Starbucks, McDonalds, any store, or any restaurant, ask for a discount! Seriously! When you go up to the cashier, ask for a discount. You don’t have to lie about anything or give a reason.
They’ll probably say no, but that’s the point! They say no, and then you leave and go on with your day (after paying the full price, of course). And who knows? They might give one to you!
This practice works for both the fear of rejection and of asking for things.
Rejection in sales
If you’re a business owner selling something, you probably have marketed this product or service. As you market your services, you generate leads and eventually it leads to a potential customer. Unfortunately, they decline your offer.
Instead of shutting that person out or forgetting about it, ask them what they would’ve wanted (or what you could’ve done) for them to take your offer.
It’s also ok to “unsell” which means telling your potential customer that this product is probably not for them and that’s fine. This is important for narrowing down your target customer base.
Rejection in content creation
This one I can relate to. So what does rejection mean in content creation? It can mean either of these things:
The algorithm rejects you.
The people reject you.
People respond negatively.
Now the first of these is inevitable. You can’t avoid it. That’s how algorithms work: they push trendy stuff first.
What prevents people from creating is their fear of #3: people responding negatively. They think “What’ll people think of this?”
The answer?
They won’t.
They won’t think of it! Everyone has things going on. What’s gonna happen is they’ll be like “Oh cool look at that” and then forget about it immediately. If I saw someone I know creating content I would be happy for them but won’t think about it very much. The only one who constantly cares about your content is you.
But let’s say people do care and your fear is real.
Isn’t that a good thing?
If someone has a positive or negative reaction that gets them to take action, doesn’t that mean you did your job as a creator?
You’ve just created content that changed someone. If they react positively, you know you’re doing something right. If they react negatively, that still counts as engagement. The algorithm only sees numbers, not emotions. So either way, you win!
Side note: I’m not telling you to purposely piss people off obviously. I’m saying that there will always be haters and that’s not bad.
This mindset is what helped me start writing on LinkedIn. Who cares if my classmates or colleagues see it? They’ll forget immediately.
“Every rejection is just a test if you want something”
This is a great quote to live by.
Think about how much you want something. If you’ve worked insanely hard for something, you won’t let it go easily. Let this motivate you when you get rejected and focus on the end goal.
Everyone has their insecurities. Just start by aiming to help one person or aiming to make $1.
“NOW and not HOW!” Start now and don’t worry about minor things.
I’m rambling so I shall conclude this here.
I’ve never tried asking for a discount but maybe I should.
I challenge you to do this too! I’ll let you know in my next post if I end up doing it!
Let me know if this post was helpful. While writing it I thought some of these tips were obvious but you never know.
I got all this profound advice from this video where Ali Abdaal interviews Noah Kagan. It’s an absolute gold mine of info so check it out!
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