Drop That Fear of Rejection

Does the fear of rejection get in the way of your communicating?

It has for me. So many times I have wanted something and started to express that desire and then when the possibility of rejection arose I backed off, or stumbled, or mumbled and just plain missed the opportunity. Projects I could have launched. Dates I could have had. Friendships that could have formed. Partnerships that could have created success. Opportunities have often simply evaporated over the fear of rejection.

I'm not a psychologist and can't explain completely how rejection works, or why it feels worse from some people and worse for all of us at various times in our lives. I've come to think though that the fear rejection just plain stands in our way, for no good reason.

So what if we're rejected? We won't burst into flames. We won't sink into a muddy hole. We won't disappear. The rejection will come and go and we decide what to do next. We decide.

Rejection is not about us, but about the person doing the rejecting.

If we have any compassion for them at all, we'll continue the conversation. If we have any courage at all, we'll assert our ideas. If we have clarity about what we want to say, we will say it. If we stay creative, we'll see rejection as just the start of the next step in our conversation. It's not over, it's just becoming even more fun.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Front Range Leadership: Training Supervisors for Success

doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

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