Key Strategies To Overcome Rejection So You Remain Unstoppable

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Have you ever felt paralyzed by the fear of rejection or failure? These setbacks are universal experiences that often stall us from pursuing our dreams. But what if I told you that rejection could be your greatest ally in achieving your future success? 

Imagine turning every “no” into a powerful stepping stone that propels you forward. By accurately assessing what is holding you back and redefining rejection as redirection, you can unlock new paths to success and embrace every setback as a setup for something greater. 

In this episode, I’m sharing a few ways to reframe rejection and failure, featuring personalities like NFL player Robert Spillane, Jamie Lee McKern, and Taylor Swift to embrace rejections in your favor and empower you to chase your dreams with renewed confidence and resilience.

The Truth About Rejection and Success

This past weekend, Robert Spillane was the commencement speaker at my daughter’s high school graduation. Robert is both a graduate of her high school and a starting linebacker for the Las Vegas Raiders. He graduated a decade ago and shared his story, openly discussing the rejections and failures he experienced along the way.

Robert went undrafted before his NFL career began and described key moments when he worked hard but was not asked to join a team. Many would have given up, but he kept showing up despite the many no’s, embarrassments, and rejections. His story made me think about how we can all stay standing and pursue our dreams despite setbacks.

Redefining Rejection

Like all things, nothing has meaning, but the meaning we give it and rejections aren’t any different. Often, we link rejection with feeling unworthy or not enough. I know for me, it used to be easy to associate a goal not happening the way I wanted with my own lack of worth. I see this happen to people all the time. Maybe your business idea wasn’t accepted by the team, a friend chooses someone else to attend an event, or someone provides negative feedback at work. 

But rejection and failure only mean those things because we give them those meanings. We can choose to redecide, reframe, or redefine the meaning we give to rejection so we keep moving forward.

Here are three ways of handling rejections and failures, so you overcome them — every time.  I hope you try them out for yourself.

Rejection is God’s Protection

One powerful rejection reframe is from Jamie Kern Lima, founder of IT Cosmetics. She built her business into one of the largest luxury makeup companies in the country, eventually selling it for $1.2 billion. Jamie went through many rejections and failures, but early on she redefined rejection as “God’s protection.” This means that if something didn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to happen. Instead of feeling abandoned, you can trust that there’s a larger plan at work that you may not be able to see right now. The universe has your back!

It’s Not Part of Your Destiny

Another perspective is that if something isn’t happening, it’s not part of your ultimate destiny. Sometimes, your value or gifts are being divinely hidden because it’s not the right path for you. We often think we know what’s best for us, but in hindsight, we often can see clearly why certain things didn’t work out. This understanding helps us accept rejection as a redirection toward what truly is meant for us ultimately.

Thank the Rejection

Learn to thank the rejection, knowing it’s preparing you for future success. Taylor Swift provides a great example of this. She describes being mistreated and made fun of during her rise to fame by another celebrity, which helped her build resilience. Without those painful experiences, she might not have achieved her current success. Embrace rejection as a necessary step in building the skills and strength needed for your future achievements.

The next time you face rejection and failure, try to:

1. Reframe Rejection: Redefine rejection as protection or redirection from a higher power or destiny, which helps you stay positive and keep moving forward.
2. Recognize Your Growth: Understand that rejection is a sign of growth and a necessary step in achieving your dreams. Successful people have faced many rejections. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing.
3. Embrace Resilience: Use rejection as an opportunity to build resilience and prepare for future success. Thank the rejection for the lessons it brings. 

Rejection, like life, is not happening to us; it’s happening for us.

Your call to action: Identify the areas in your life where you feel blocked, ask yourself how you would act if you weren’t afraid of rejection? Then take that first micro-step. You are more ready to succeed than you think you are.

In this episode, I share:

• Understanding that rejection is not a reflection of your worth but an opportunity for growth and redirection
• Examples highlighting journeys that went through rejection and how they turned setbacks into set-ups
• Four practical strategies for showing up and pursuing dreams the next time your met with a rejection or failure

Resources and related episodes:

• Tune in to the previous episode, How To Engage In Pressureful Situations While Maintaining Your Best Self
• Learn more about NFL player Robert Spillane, Jamie Kern Lima of IT Cosmetics, and Taylor Swift
• If you’d like to be notified of when new podcast episodes are released, you can do so here: Playing Full Out
• Learn more about the Inside Out Method
• Connect with Rita on LinkedIn

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts for more tips, tools, and inspiration to lead the optimal vision of your life, love, and leadership. Remember, a half version of you is not enough. The world needs the fullest version of you at play.

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About Rita Hyland

With over 20 years of experience as an executive and leadership coach, Rita helps leaders — emerging and established — excel in corporate and entrepreneurial environments.

Rita believes if leaders were more clear about how transformation really works and more intentional about creating what they want, their impact, success, and influence in the world would be unstoppable.

Through her coaching programs, private coaching, and masterminds, Rita shows leaders how to win consistently and create the impact and legacy they desire.

Central to Rita’s work is the understanding that you will never outperform your current programming, no matter how strong your willpower.

When you learn to use Rita’s proprietary Neuroleadership Growth Code, a technology that uses the best of neuroscience and transformational psychology to hit the brain’s buttons for change, YOU become both the solution and the strategy.

Her mission is to end talented, hard-working, and self-aware leaders spending another day stuck in self-doubt or confusion and not contributing their brilliant work and talent the world so desperately needs.