If some of you know my story, you will recall that I was fired from my first job out of college. Yes, brought into the office and given the pink slip. Although I knew things weren’t going well, I wasn’t expecting to be rejected with just two weeks’ severance pay. Wow. That was a blow.
Aside from the sting and disappointment of failure, I was also in need of a paycheck, pronto. I reached out to what network I had at the time, and one of my friends told me about a job in the public relations department at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. I could write well, so I applied. I was brought in for an interview, and walking down the halls of the medical center to the public relations office gave me the creeps. Stretchers passed me. The smell of alcohol and Betadine antiseptic filled my nostrils.
I marched on and long story short, I got the job. It paid better than my first job at the advertising agency and exposed me to a new world of science, miracles and opportunities. And I met my first great business mentor, Boone Powell, Sr. I stepped out of my comfort zone and as the old saying goes, as one door closed, another one opened.
Recently, I was reading Hoda Kotb’s book, “I Really Needed This Today,” offering a lesson for every day of the year. In the April 6th entry entitled, “See rejection as redirection,” Hoda says she was rejected 27 times before she was hired as a broadcast journalist. She says she ended up right where she needed to begin, and look at the career she has had!
If you are discouraged and rejected, consider this fellow:
He dropped out of school. Ran a country store. Went broke. Took 15 years to pay off his bills. Took a wife. Unhappy marriage. Ran for House. Lost twice. Ran for Senate. Lost twice. Delivered a speech that became a classic. Audience indifferent. Attacked daily by the press and despised by half the country. Despite all this, imagine how many people all over the world have been inspired by this awkward, rumpled, brooding man who signed his name simply. A.Lincoln.*
We all get rejected and it just feels horrible at the time. My experience is if you look for that opportunity to redirect your efforts and put yourself out there, then the rejection can most always lead to something even better or more interesting. Or, at least we learn to have a thicker skin.
Another one of my good friends, leading economist, Jason Schenker advises that when looking for a job send out hundreds or maybe thousands of resumes. He says he was rejected so many times he has lost count. But he says, in the end ‘it is not who you know, it is who knows you.’
Take heart. The next time you are rejected or have a big setback, charge out there and see what is around the corner. It could be a pleasant surprise.
Redirected more than once,
Gay Gaddis
Founder. Author. Artist. Trailblazer.
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