Ivy Keating's Blog - Posts Tagged "rejection"
Reject the Rejection Blues
It's often a rocky path to our goals. But that does not mean you won't get there. Here’s my top 5 ways to brush yourself off and keep going, when things don't go your way!
1-Validate your feelings. It’s okay to be upset, angry, scared… any feeling you have is valid. Tell yourself that you accept that you feel this way. You can also validate your feelings by acknowledging them and saying to yourself, “It will be alright. We will find a way to deal with this.” It may seem silly, but trying to discount the way you feel could actually hurt your chances of success. You could pretend rejections don’t bother you at all, but this could lead to discounting the importance of your goals.
2-Be accurate. Don't dramatize the hurdle. Take for example, sending in a novel and a publishing house rejecting it. One rejection — even 50 rejections –– does not mean everyone and everyplace will pass on your idea. It just means this place did. When processing what happened, stick to the facts.
3-Look for the positive. In the example of a book rejection, perhaps the response came with a critique you could capitalize on. This type of rejection gave me great encouragement. Someone in the industry took the time to comment. Knowing they would look for my rewrite kept my spirits up. If you receive a form letter rejection, cross them off your list. At least you don’t have to wait any longer for their answer.
4-For every obstacle, find two ways to keep going. If I received a rejection on a query, I would look for two more places to send my novel. Keep the momentum going. Don't let a set back knock you off the path... go around it and power on.
5-Focus on your goal. The truth is, you only have to live with the rejection blues if you focus on the difficulties. Once you validate your feelings, try any of the suggestions above. We all face setbacks. It's how you move on from them that matters.
You can do it!
1-Validate your feelings. It’s okay to be upset, angry, scared… any feeling you have is valid. Tell yourself that you accept that you feel this way. You can also validate your feelings by acknowledging them and saying to yourself, “It will be alright. We will find a way to deal with this.” It may seem silly, but trying to discount the way you feel could actually hurt your chances of success. You could pretend rejections don’t bother you at all, but this could lead to discounting the importance of your goals.
2-Be accurate. Don't dramatize the hurdle. Take for example, sending in a novel and a publishing house rejecting it. One rejection — even 50 rejections –– does not mean everyone and everyplace will pass on your idea. It just means this place did. When processing what happened, stick to the facts.
3-Look for the positive. In the example of a book rejection, perhaps the response came with a critique you could capitalize on. This type of rejection gave me great encouragement. Someone in the industry took the time to comment. Knowing they would look for my rewrite kept my spirits up. If you receive a form letter rejection, cross them off your list. At least you don’t have to wait any longer for their answer.
4-For every obstacle, find two ways to keep going. If I received a rejection on a query, I would look for two more places to send my novel. Keep the momentum going. Don't let a set back knock you off the path... go around it and power on.
5-Focus on your goal. The truth is, you only have to live with the rejection blues if you focus on the difficulties. Once you validate your feelings, try any of the suggestions above. We all face setbacks. It's how you move on from them that matters.
You can do it!
