Negatives Can be Positives

Did I lose you already? Well, hang on for a moment and let me clear this up. I've had a quite a few people ask me how I stay motivated in the face of rejection. I do actually have a secret. I'm competitive and I have a bit of a need-to-prove-people-wrong complex. 

Let me take you back to my junior year in high school. I was on the varsity tennis team and my coach went around the team giving his predictions of what kind of individual records we'd each have. He got to my doubles partner and I and said, "You'll win more than you lose." Ouch! We got mad. Really mad. That's insulting! (So insulting I remember those exact words all these years later!) So what did we do? We worked our tails off and broke the school record for most wins. We still hold it.

I haven't lost that need to prove people wrong. But don't misunderstand me. When I get a rejection, I get upset first. I may even cry. But then I work harder because I need to prove I can make it in this industry. And do you want to know something? When you get that acceptance, the rejections that came before it don't matter anymore.

What about you? Can you turn rejection into motivation?