I attended a marketing webinar a few weeks ago. During the presentation, the host encouraged the webinar participants to get rejected more regularly. He said that if people weren’t getting rejected, they weren’t being bold enough. He also emphasized that while boldness would create more rejections, it also would nuture more acceptances.

I loved this concept. It seemed both counterintuitive and brilliant at the same time.

Throughout my life I have typically taken calculated risks. I thoughtfully plan and then execute when I’m pretty confident that the outcome will be positive. It often works out. Boundaries may not be pushed to the extent they could be, but rejections are rare.

It also may be limiting me.  

By getting more comfortable with rejection, I’ll likely experience greater growth. I know this. It certainly was a lesson I learned from the academic world years ago.

For years, as a graduate and a doctoral student, I was encouraged and expected to publish in academic journals. Publications are anonymously peer reviewed, and it comes with a lot of criticism. Rejections are more common than not.

I remember feeling so dejected in the early days when I first received rejection emails. I also remember my academic advisor telling me to try again, to submit my manuscript to a different publication. He said that publishing was often about finding the right publication at the right time. It was trial and error. I just needed to keep trying.

Sometimes it took years of effort to get a piece published. There was a lot of waiting, a lot of advice taken from peer reviewers, and a lot of revised drafts. I eventually got there, but it was work.

While I never loved rejection (who does?), I did grow comfortable with it. I expected it. I saw it as an opportunity to grow.

Yet, strangely, I compartmentalized this experience. I knew this was how academia worked. What I didn’t realize is that this is how life works.

So, moving forward, I know I need to put myself out there more. I’ll probably get rejected at times, but my ideas will get more refined as I continue to learn. It also may take years before I find the people who resonate with my work, but I’ll get there.

I’m willing to give it a try.

As a challenge this week, I invite you to do the same. Be bold and to actively set out to get more rejections. It may not be easy at first, but if you hang in there, you’ll notice that it will foster more dialogue, and your ideas with strengthen. Before long, these ideas will resonate with the right people, and you’ll land where you aim to be.

Getting comfortable with rejection is all it takes.

Best of luck, Lauren