How many times have you been told ‘no’ in your life? Most people hear the word ‘no’ every day. It’s how you deal with rejection — especially with things that are most important to you — that matters.
In a recent Entrepreneur article, successful entrepreneur Todd Pedersen said, “Rejection is a part of life, especially an entrepreneur’s life, but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear. Even after building a couple of billion-dollar businesses, I still get rejected. No one likes being told no — especially me — but no just might be the most important word an entrepreneur can hear.”
The key, he said, is to deal with rejection as not the final word on a matter but as a signal that you’ll simply have to get what you want a different way. Even better, using rejection as a motivation to succeed can help you along the path to success. The key is not to get discouraged if you’re told ‘no’ more than once. One study on cold calling came to the conclusion that it takes 118 ‘no’s’ to get one ‘yes’!
And don’t forget: No matter how successful you become, people will still tell you no. Or that your ideas don’t work. It’s up to you to find a way to make it happen anyway.